Oil prices didn’t change much on Thursday as business sectors looked at the rise in gas and distillate stocks in the U.S. and worried about slowing economic growth because of supply worries.
In light trading as the August contract expires on Thursday, Brent’s unrefined futures fell by a quarter, or 0.2%, to $116.01 a barrel in light trading.
September’s more volatile contract fell 27 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $112.18.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices fell 19 cents, or 0.2%, to $109.58 a barrel.
The two contracts dropped roughly 2 percent on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that U.S. unrefined inventories fell last week even as production reached its highest level since April 2020, during the COVID pandemic’s initial outbreak.
Purifiers ramped up to 95 percent capacity, the highest level for this season in four years, increasing fuel stocks.
A stronger dollar also affected prices because it makes oil more expensive for people who want to buy it with currencies other than the dollar.
Nonetheless, prices received some support from supply concerns.
The Association of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and OPEC+, which includes partners such as Russia, began two days of gatherings on Wednesday, with sources stating that it was unlikely that further oil would be stolen.
The spread of hostile government conflicts around the world hurt oil production in Ecuador, so a force majeure notice had to be put on Ecuador’s top Oriente unrefined products.
Ben van Beurden, the CEO of Shell PLC (SHEL.L), said that the global oil and gas markets could stay unstable for a long time because there isn’t much extra supply and demand is still getting better.
