Oil prices continued to decline on August 16, despite data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) on a sharp decline in crude stocks in the country last week, Report informs referring to Interfax.
Oil reserves in the US for the week ended August 11 fell by 6.195 million barrels, the API report says. A week earlier, reserves increased by 4.067 million barrels.
Thus, October futures for Brent fell by $0.25 (0.29%) at London's ICE, to $84.64 per barrel.
September futures for WTI by this time fell at NYMEX by $0.21 (0.26%), to $80.78 per barrel.
The US Department of Energy will publish data on changes in energy stocks in the country over the past week later on August 16. Experts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights predict, on average, a decline in oil inventories by 2.26 million barrels, a decline for gasoline by 1.6 million barrels, and practically do not expect a change in distillate inventories.
Pressure on the oil market continues to be exerted by fears of weakening demand, related, in particular, to signals of a slowdown in the growth of the Chinese economy.
The US economy is demonstrating resilience in the face of tightening monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, and this raises fears of a further rate hike, which could provoke a worsening situation in the economy.