Brent crude pares gains after crossing $113

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices trimmed gains on Wednesday, after Brent crude touched $113 a barrel. The prices, however, are still holding at the highest levels since 2014 ahead of data on crude inventories in the US and the OPEC+ meeting.

The international benchmark was trading up 6.47% at $111.76 per barrel, at 12.10 pm Makkah time, after recording $113.02 earlier in the day.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 6.51% to $110.14 a barrel.

Members of the International Energy Agency decided to free up 60 million barrels of strategic stockpiles to calm the rise in prices.

The situation in energy markets is very serious, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said Tuesday, March 1, after major economies agreed to the release of oil reserves.

Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) are due to meet later today. The group is expected to maintain its plans to add 400,000 barrels per day of supply each month, according to Reuters report.

Separately, the American Petroleum Institute’s data showed that US crude inventories fell by 6.1 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 25.

The US Energy Information Administration is due to release weekly data later today.