Crude oil futures down 1% ahead of inventory report

Investing.com – Crude oil futures were lower on Wednesday, as investors looked ahead to closely-watched weekly supply data on stockpiles of crude and refined products from the U.S. Energy Information Administration later in the day.

Concerns the Federal Reserve could taper down its bond purchases amid increasing signs of a recovery in the U.S. economy also weighed.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at USD94.59 a barrel during European morning trade, down 0.8% on the day.

New York-traded oil prices fell by as much as 1.1% earlier in the day to hit a session low of USD94.28 a barrel.

Oil traders awaited data from the U.S. government on oil and fuel supplies later in the day to gauge the strength of demand from the world’s largest oil consumer.

The report was expected to show that U.S. crude oil stockpiles declined by 1.7 million barrels last week, while gasoline inventories were forecast to rise by 0.9 million barrels.

After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that U.S. crude inventories were unchanged last week, disappointing expectations for a decline of 2 million barrels.

Gasoline stocks rose 1.33 million barrels, above expectations for a 0.8 million barrel increase.

Meanwhile, a series of upbeat U.S. data releases on Tuesday reinforced the view that Federal Reserve will begin to taper its bond purchase program in the coming months.

Quantitative easing is viewed by many investors as a key driver in boosting the price of commodities as it tends to depress the value of the dollar.

Later in the day, the U.S. Commerce Department is scheduled to release the third estimate of gross domestic product for the first quarter.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for August delivery shed 0.4% to trade at USD100.85 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD6.26 a barrel, the narrowest level since January 2011.

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