KUALA LUMPUR- Oil prices held steady on Wednesday as concerns about weaker demand offset industry data that showed a larger-than-expected drawdown in US crude stockpiles.
Brent crude futures were at $104.35 a barrel, down 5 cents, or 0.05 percent. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 9 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $95.07 a barrel. WTI had climbed nearly $1 earlier in the session.
“A sharper decline in inventories should support oil prices, but the rebound was limited by concerns about potential weak demand, and the White House stated that it will further release strategic reserves,” said Leon Li, a Shanghai-based analyst at CMC Markets.
In addition, the prospect the US Federal Reserve will announce an aggressive rate rise later on Wednesday weighed on sentiment and limited the rise in oil prices, he said.
After Tuesday’s settlement, industry group the American Petroleum Institute said crude stocks in the United States fell by 4 million barrels last week.
That was four times bigger than the decline expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.
Gasoline inventories fell by 1.1 million barrels, compared with expectations for a build of 3.5 million barrels, the data showed.
