Oil prices fell for a third straight session on Wednesday as investors took profits while looking ahead to U.S. inventories data due later in the day for pointers on where prices will head next.
Brent crude for May dropped 56 cents, or 0.8%, to $66.96 a barrel by 0414 GMT,
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for April was at $63.56 a barrel, down 45 cents, or 0.7%.
Oil Prices gained support last week from the OPEC+ meeting decision to primarily maintain production cuts in April.
As a result, the prices rallied on Monday, with Brent rising above $70 a barrel, after attacks by Yemeni Houthis on Saudi’sSaudi’s oil heartland, before settling back.
Virendra Chauhan, a Singapore-based analyst at consultancy Energy Aspects, said they realised there was no impact on supply from the attack.
A combination of factors including top importers China and India drawing crude from storage at current high prices and expectations of a return in Iranian supplies have also cooled prices, he added.
Oil Supply in the U.S.
According to trading sources, in the United States, crude inventories rose by 12.8 million barrels in the week to March 5, citing data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute.
Official figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) are expected Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. E.T.
Meanwhile, higher prices are expected to bring more U.S. crude supplies back online.
However, despite the dip this week, crude is expected to resume its upward trend, which may encourage more activity from U.S. drillers.
Oil production across American shale patches next year is expected to climb to the highest annual rate since 2019, according to a government report.
“The current WTI oil price is well above the level needed to incentivise a substantial increase in U.S. production, which according to surveys by the Dallas Fed and the Kansas City Fed stands at around $56 per barrel,” EFG said.
