Oil prices fell for a fourth straight session on Thursday as minutes of the US Federal Reserve meeting revealed discussions of further tightening of interest rates if inflation remains sticky; This move could negatively affect oil demand.
Brent crude futures fell 46 cents, or 0.6%, to $81.44 a barrel at 04:24 GMT. WTI crude oil futures fell 54 cents, or 0.7%, to $77.03.
Both indicators fell more than 1% on Wednesday.
Minutes of the Fed’s latest policy meeting on Wednesday show that the US central bank’s response to sticky inflation includes maintaining the policy rate for now, but also reflects discussions about possible additional increases.
Several participants spoke of a desire to tighten policy further if risks to inflation materialize such that such action would be appropriate.
Higher interest rates are increasing borrowing costs, squeezing funds that could boost economic growth and oil demand in the world’s largest oil-consuming nation.
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 1.8 million barrels last week, compared with forecasts for a decline of 2.5 million barrels.
Globally, physical crude oil markets have been under pressure lately due to weak refinery demand and ample supply.
Recent softness in the market has been driven by weak data, including rising oil inventories, sluggish demand, refining margin weakness, and increased risk of production disruptions.
Russia exceeded its OPEC+ production quota in April for technical reasons and will soon submit a plan to compensate for the mistake to the Secretariat of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Russian Energy Ministry said late on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the expectation that OPEC+ will continue its production cuts in the third quarter of this year at its meeting on June 1 continues.
