Oil prices edge lower on rising U.S. inventories, Libyan output
Oil prices fell on Wednesday, giving up some of last session’s gains, as rising U.S. crude inventories and easing concerns over Libyan supply weighed, although potential U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports capped losses.
Brent crude futures were down 7 cents, or 0.1%, at $77.42 a barrel by 0708 GMT, while U.S. crude futures were down 7 cents, or 0.1%, at $73.70 a barrel.
“While the market is coping with pressures on the demand side, easing pressures on the supply side are also weighing on oil prices,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova in Singapore.
“The market is under pressure with Trump’s plan to increase U.S. oil production and waiting for more clarity on Trump’s energy policy.” U.S. President Donald Trump began his term last week by issuing a series of executive orders aimed at boosting the country’s already record-high oil and gas production.
U.S. crude and gasoline stocks rose last week, while distillate inventories fell, market sources said on Tuesday, citing figures from the American Petroleum Institute.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, will release its weekly data at 1530 GMT on Wednesday.
The resolution of supply problems in Libya has also added to selling pressure, said Chiyoki Chen, chief analyst at Sunward Trading in Tokyo.
Those fears eased after state-run National Oil Corp said on Tuesday that export activity was normal after holding talks with protesters demanding a halt to loading at one of its main oil ports.
The White House said on Tuesday that Trump still planned to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Saturday.
It remains unclear how the new tariffs might affect U.S. oil imports from those countries. Canada supplies 3.9 million barrels of oil per day to the U.S. in 2023, roughly half of its total imports for the year, while Mexico supplies 733,000 barrels per day, according to data from the EIA.
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister and some of his OPEC+ partners have been in talks following Trump’s call for lower oil prices and ahead of next week’s meeting of OPEC+ oil-producing nations, according to official statements and sources.
Benchmark oil prices fell to multi-week lows this week as news of surging interest in low-cost artificial intelligence (AI) models from Chinese startup DeepSeek stoked concerns over demand for energy to power data centers, rattling the energy sector overall, while weak economic data from China further dented the demand outlook.
Source: Investing.com
