Brent drops to $79.41 per barrel

Oil prices have gone down after last week's confident increase as traders are waiting for data from US Energy Department regarding the country's energy resources.

Report informs via Interfax that the figures published by the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday night showed a decline in oil reserves in the United States to 797,000 in a week ended July 14.

The experts' forecast cited by Trading Economics envisaged a decline of 2.25 million barrels in inventories following an increase of more than 3 million barrels a week earlier.

Brent's September futures dropped by $0.22 (0.28%) at London's ICE, to $79.41 per barrel.

By that time, the August futures for WTI dropped by $0.32 (0.42%) to $75.43 per barrel at NYMEX.

Inventories at the terminal in Cushing, Oklahoma, where oil traded on the Nymex is stored, fell by 3 million barrels last week, according to API. The decline, if confirmed by official data, would be the largest since October 2021.

Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal expect a decline of 1.8 million barrels in US oil reserves, 1.1 million barrels in gasoline and predict an increase in distillate stocks by 200,000 barrels.