Oil prices remained stable as fears over weakening demand outweighed news from the industry; that revealed a larger-than-anticipated reduction in U.S. crude stockpiles.
At the start of Wednesday’s trading day in London, Brent crude futures were trading at $100.35, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate saw a modest 0.1 percent increase to $95.07 per barrel. WTI had risen earlier in the day by around $1.
Oil prices should be a steeper decrease in stockpiles, but the recovery was constrain by worries about possibly poor demand, and the White House announcement that it will further release strategic reserve.
The government announced in late March that it will release an unprecedented 1 million barrels of oil from the SPR every day for six months. With roughly 70 million barrels supplied to buyers, the United States has now sold 125 million barrels from the reserve.
As a result of concerns about the prognosis for U.S. demand and the possibility of a recession, the U.S. Federal Reserve is anticipated to increase interest rates by 75 basis points.