SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices were mixed on Wednesday as a bigger-than-expected build in U.S. crude stocks and weaker U.S. retail sales stoked fears over fuel demand, although hopes that OPEC and its allies will delay a planned rise in oil output lent support.
Brent crude futures for January LCOc1 rose 5 cents, or 0.11%, to $43.80 a barrel by 0724 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for December CLc1 fell 6 cents, or 0.14%, to $41.37 a barrel.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday that U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 4.2 million barrels last week, Reuters reported.
“The API crude inventories rose much higher than expected, which added to pressure,” Reuters cited Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA, as saying.
He further said disappointing U.S. retail sales also raised concerns over weaker U.S. consumption in light of the coronavirus resurgence.
“Still, I think today is the day of consolidation … investors just saw an excuse for unwinding their long positions,” Halley told Reuters.
To tackle weaker energy demand amid a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi Arabia called on fellow members of the OPEC+ grouping – OPEC and other producers including Russia – to be flexible in responding to oil market needs as it builds the case for a tighter production policy in 2021.
