Oil prices fell on European markets on Wednesday to continue their losses for a second straight day as US President Donald Trump demanded OPEC increase production and price cuts, as well as an unexpected surge in US commercial inventories, according to the US Petroleum Institute.
By 12:33 GMT US crude oil fell to $ 71.80 per barrel from the opening level of $ 72.07, recording a high of $ 72.36, and a low of $ 71.70.
Brent crude oil fell to $ 80.70 a barrel from the opening level of $ 80.79, and recorded a high of $ 81.55, and the lowest level of $ 80.58.
US crude oil lost 0.3% on Tuesday, the first loss in three days, on correction and profit taking, after hitting a two-month high of $ 72.72 a barrel the previous day. Brent fell 0.6% The highest level in four years was $ 82.53 a barrel.
The United States said it would ensure a good supply of crude oil in the market before sanctions are re-imposed on Iran in November, according to remarks by US special envoy Brian Hawke at a press conference at the UN General Assembly.
In a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, US President Donald Trump renewed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) demand for increased production and price cuts.
The inter-ministerial committee charged with monitoring OPEC’s cut-off agreement and independent producers met over the weekend in Algeria to discuss a possible increase in production levels, but Opec and Russia seem to reject the increase at the moment.
In preliminary data, the US Petroleum Institute announced yesterday that the country’s trade inventories rose by 2.9 thousand barrels in the week ended September 21, the second weekly increase in a row, contrary to experts’ expectations of a decline of about 1.3 million barrels.
According to this data, the total US commercial inventories rose to 400 million barrels, despite this increase, but inventories are still near their lowest level in more than three years.
Traders are looking for official data on commercial stocks and production levels later in the weekly report of the US Energy Agency, and expectations are for inventories to fall by about 0.7 million barrels, the sixth weekly decline in a row.