Oil prices fall amid increasing U.S. inventories, OPEC+ supply plans

(MENAFN) Oil prices continued to decline in early Asian trading on Wednesday, following a report indicating an increase in US crude and fuel inventories, which has heightened concerns about demand growth. Brent crude futures dropped by 14 cents, or 0.2 percent, to USD77.38 per barrel as of 0005 GMT. Similarly, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell by 18 cents, or 0.3 percent, to USD73.07 per barrel. This followed a drop of about a dollar per barrel in the previous session on Tuesday, and a significant decline of approximately three dollars per barrel on Monday. The recent price pressures stem from the OPEC+ alliance's announcement of plans to increase oil supplies starting in October, despite weak demand growth signals.

Data released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) revealed that stocks of crude oil, gasoline, and distillates in the United States rose last week. Typically, high inventories suggest that supply is outpacing demand. Specifically, the API's figures showed an increase of more than four million barrels in crude oil inventories for the week ending May 31, contrary to analysts' expectations of a 2.3 million barrel decline. Additionally, gasoline stocks saw a significant rise of over four million barrels, far exceeding the anticipated increase of two million barrels predicted by analysts. These developments have contributed to the ongoing decline in oil prices, reflecting market concerns over surplus supply and subdued demand growth. 

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