Oil prices decline ahead of US inventory data

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices declined today, May 30, ahead of the release of official data on weekly inventories in the United States, after estimates from the American Petroleum Institute showed a decline during the past week.

Brent crude was trading down 0.18% at $83.28 a barrel, at 08:07 am Makkah time. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.15% to $79.11 a barrel.

The American Petroleum Institute weekly report, released in May 29, showed a decrease in US inventories of crude oil by 6.49 million barrels during the week ended May 24. Gasoline inventories decreased by 452,000 barrels, while distillates rose by about 2.05 million barrels.

Today, investors are awaiting the release of official stockpile data from the US Energy Information Administration, with expectations of a withdrawal of 1.9 million barrels from oil stocks, after a decline of 1.8 million barrels in the previous week.

Despite the higher-than-expected decline in US oil inventories according to the API estimates, indicating strong demand, the tendency to avoid risk has caused increased pressure on oil prices, Yip Jun Rong, Market Strategist at IG, said, according to a Reuters report.