Oil prices declined after three consecutive sessions of gains in midday trading on Thursday, January 22nd, as geopolitical tensions eased and the US president backed down from his threat to impose new tariffs on EU countries over Greenland. Prices are also awaiting official inventory figures. US crude (WTI) fell by about 0.45% to trade at $60.35 per barrel, while Brent crude traded at $64.92 per barrel, down about 0.49%.

The International Energy Agency’s monthly report showed that the agency expects global oil demand to rise by 930,000 barrels per day this year, compared to its previous forecast of 8.503 million barrels per day. It also anticipates a decline in global supply of 350,000 barrels per day in December to 107.4 million barrels per day, 1.6 million barrels less than its peak in September. The report further projects an increase of 2.5 million barrels per day for the year, compared to the agency’s previous estimate of 3 million barrels per day. The report indicated that the return of economic conditions to normalcy after last year’s tariff concerns played a role in raising its forecast for global crude oil demand growth.

Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute’s report, released Wednesday, showed an increase in inventories of 3.04 million barrels last week, ending January 16, compared to expectations of a 1.7 million barrel increase. Specifically, gasoline inventories rose by approximately 6.2 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, fell by 33,000 barrels.

Markets are awaiting the official report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on inventories this evening, with forecasts indicating that inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels last week.