Futures oil prices declined at the beginning of trading on Wednesday after reaching their highest levels in 7 years yesterday, due to news of continued increases in U.S. crude oil inventories during the past week. The price of futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell to below $83 per barrel after rising by more than 3% over the past four trading days.
The American Petroleum Institute reported a rise in U.S. crude inventories last week by 3.29 million barrels, according to informed sources, indicating a continuous increase for the fourth consecutive week, according to Bloomberg News. The institute's official report is set to be released today.
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, fell by 0.4% this morning to $82.61 per barrel for delivery in November, after rising by 0.6% yesterday. At the same time, the price of December contracts decreased by 0.6% to $81.97 per barrel as of 12:05 PM Singapore time. Additionally, Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell by 0.5% to $84.63 per barrel for December delivery, after a 0.9% increase yesterday, reaching its highest level since October 2018.
