Oil retreats from 3-month high peak ahead of US Fed outcome, lower US crude stock
US Federal Reserve meeting outcome. Oil prices have rallied for four weeks, buoyed by signs of tighter supplies, largely linked to output cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as Chinese authorities' pledges to shore up the world's second-biggest economy. Brent crude futures were down 32 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $83.32 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $79.32, down 31 cents.
Both fell by more than $1 earlier in the session, after hitting three-month highs on Tuesday. Back home, on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude oil futures due for a August 21 expiry, were last trading lower by 0.51 per cent at ₹6,496 per bbl, having swung between ₹6,456 and ₹6,539 per bbl during the session so far, against a previous close of ₹6,529 per barrel. -US crude inventories drew by 600,000 barrels in the week ended July 21, according to data from the U.S.
Energy Information Administration, compared with estimates for a draw of 2.35 million barrels. Industry group American Petroleum Institute figures had indicated a 1.32 million barrels build. Petrol and diesel stocks also drew less than expected, EIA data showed.
-The market expects Saudi Arabia to roll over its August output cuts to September, Russia is expected to significantly increase oil loading in September, bringing to an end steep export cuts, according to news agency Reuters. -Meanwhile, concern is high over whether China, also the world's second-biggest oil consumer, will deliver on its policy pledges. "The market will continue to be in a tug-of-war between tightening global supply and fears of slowing demand due to the global economic slowdown," Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities, told Reuters.
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