WTI Crude Oil falls as traders look to US inventory data

Key points

Futures on US West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil retreated on Tuesday, as market players looked to incoming US inventory data for clues over fuel demand during the busy summer driving season.

The report on crude oil stocks by the American Petroleum Institute is due out at 20:30 GMT today. Crude inventories dropped by 1.246 million barrels during the week ending June 16th, the most recent API data showed, following a 1.024 million barrel build in the prior week.

The official government inventory data will be released on Wednesday.

The oil market seemed to have shrugged off the aborted mutiny by heavily armed mercenaries in Russia over the past weekend. There have not been reports of Russian oil exports disruption.

“The latest geopolitical flare-up quickly pales into insignificance compared to persistent macroeconomic considerations,” PVM oil analyst Tamas Varga was quoted as saying by Reuters.

China’s oil demand in the second half of the year remains of key significance. China’s Premier Li Qiang said the country would take measures to increase demand and invigorate markets, but no details were provided.

According to JPMorgan analysts, global gasoline demand rose by 365,000 barrels per day YoY, supported by robust US gasoline consumption.

As of 12:32 GMT on Tuesday WTI Crude Oil Futures for August delivery were losing 1.50% to trade at $68.33 per barrel.

At the same time, Brent Oil Futures for September delivery were losing 1.40% on the day to trade at $73.31 per barrel.