Oil prices hovered around two-month lows in Asian trade on Wednesday as traders hunkered down in anticipation of a meeting between Russian and U.S. leaders later this week.
Focus was also on U.S. inventories after industry data showed an unexpected build in stockpiles in the world’s biggest fuel consumer.
Oil prices were little enthused by slightly softer-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation data, which saw markets largely maintain their expectations for a September interest rate cut.
Brent oil futures for October steadied at $66.13 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.1% to $62.41 a barrel by 21:39 ET (01:39 GMT).
US inventories see unexpected build, API data shows
Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday that U.S. oil inventories grew by 1.5 million barrels in the week to August 8, ducking expectations for a 0.8 million barrel draw.
The print usually heralds a similar reading from official inventory data, and spurred some concerns that U.S. fuel demand was cooling as the travel-heavy summer season came to a close.
U.S. Energy Information Administration inventory data is due later on Wednesday, with estimates for a 300,000 barrel draw.
The EIA and the OPEC in separate monthly reports said they expect output to increase in the coming months, which also weighed on oil prices this week. The OPEC also slightly hiked its oil demand forecast for 2026.
Concerns over increasing production and sluggish demand have weighed heavily on oil prices this year, with threats of more U.S. sanctions against Russia doing little to stem crude’s decline.
Trump-Putin meeting in focus
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Alaska on Friday, to discuss an end to the Ukraine war.
The meeting comes as Washington threatened even tighter sanctions on Russia’s oil industry, this time threatening to tariff major buyers of Russian oil– India and China. Trump had earlier outlined a 50% tariff on India.
The White House was seen tempering expectations for a quick end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Tuesday, potentially heralding drawn-out ceasefire negotiations and more sanctions on Russian oil in the coming weeks.
Source :
https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/oil-prices-tentative-with-us-inventories-trumpputin-meeting-in-focus-4187041
