Oil prices edged down on Wednesday as an industry report showed an increase in U.S. crude stockpiles and tariff worries weighed on sentiment, though stronger refining margins limited the market’s downside.
Brent futures fell 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $76.75 a barrel by 0408 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $73.04 a barrel.
The declines snapped a three-day streak of gains for prices with Brent climbing 3.6% while WTI rose 3.7%.
Crude oil stockpiles in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil producer and consumer, rose by 9.4 million barrels in the week ending February 7, according to sources citing American Petroleum Institute data on Tuesday.
Gasoline inventories fell by 2.51 million barrels, and distillate stocks dropped by 590,000 barrels, the sources said the API data showed.
Data from the Energy Information Administration will be released later on Wednesday.
The EIA increased its estimate for U.S. crude production while leaving its demand forecast unchanged. It now expects U.S. crude oil output to average 13.59 million barrels per day in 2025, up from its prior estimate of 13.55 million bpd.
Prices also slipped on concerns that multiple U.S. tariffs being enacted or threatened could limit global economic growth and energy demand.
But stronger refining margins limited price losses overall. Complex refining margins in Singapore clawed back January losses, averaging at $3 a barrel or more in the past week, LSEG pricing data showed.
“Prompt refinery margins are healthy, reversing the negative margin trends from previous month. There is strong demand for refineries to run hard, particularly as we head into the turnaround season in northwest Europe and Asia,” said June Goh, senior analyst at Sparta Commodities in a reply to Reuters.
On the macroeconomic front, traders were waiting key U.S. consumer price index data which will be released at 1330 GMT on Wednesday for clues on the country’s economic performance and the potential impact on interest rates.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that the Fed was in no hurry to make any further interest rate cuts, but stood ready to do so if inflation declined further or the job market weakened.
(Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Kate Mayberry)