Crude oil prices fell at the start of European trading today, Wednesday, July 16, marking their third consecutive session of declines amid anticipation of official inventory figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), ignoring expectations of a rise in demand after Chinese figures showed an increase in crude imports for the world’s largest crude importer. US crude (NYMEX) fell by about 0.39%, trading at $66.26 a barrel, while Brent crude traded at $68.50 a barrel, down about 0.32%.
The American Petroleum Institute report issued yesterday, Tuesday, showed an increase in inventories of 839,000 barrels in the past week ending July 11. In detail, gasoline inventories rose by about 1.93 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, rose by about 828,000 barrels.
Markets are awaiting the US Energy Information Administration’s report on Wednesday, which is estimated to have decreased inventories by about 1.8 million barrels. Meanwhile, figures showed that China’s oil imports rose to 12.14 million barrels in June, bringing imports from the world’s largest crude importer to their highest level since August 2023 and a 7.1% increase from May’s reading.