Oil prices extended their modest decline after an industry report pointed to a big build in U.S. inventories, and other markets retreated before the end of the quarter.
Brent crude is heading towards $85 a barrel after falling 0.6% on Tuesday, while West Texas Intermediate crude is trading below $81.
The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said national inventories rose by 9.3 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the data. It also reported a 2.4 million-barrel increase in crude oil volumes at the main Cushing, Oklahoma, hub, even as gasoline stockpiles fell.
Biggest weekly increase
If government data due later Wednesday is confirmed, crude oil levels at the Cushing hub will have posted their biggest weekly gain in barrels since January 2023. Gasoline stocks, meanwhile, will fall for an eighth week, the longest streak of declines in nearly a year.
Broader financial markets were weaker, weighing on crude oil and other commodities. Asian stock markets had a quiet opening after U.S. indexes erased gains in the last half hour of trading as investors rebalanced their portfolios.
Oil rose after breaking out of a narrow range that held during the first two months of the year, when the spread between supply and demand was narrow. Geopolitical uncertainty, amid Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and OPEC+ supply cuts, supported prices, although a tough economic outlook in China and strong non-OPEC supply growth remain headwinds.
