Speculation about strengthened supplies in the world's top consumer prompted West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures to lose value on Wednesday as the energy commodity barreled toward its second consecutive month of losses, Bloomberg reports.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release inventory data on Wednesday and Bloomberg analysts project supplies grew by 2.4 million barrels to amount to 382.2 million barrels. That would mark the top level in about 120 days.
"We're having a demand slowdown while refinery runs are lower due to maintenance in the U.S., and hence the supply-demand balance is in surplus," chief investment officer Hakan Kocayusufpasaoglu with hedge fund Archbridge Capital AG in Zug, Switzerland told the news source on Wednesday. "Supply figures in the U.S. are going to be overwhelmingly strong for the foreseeable future."
At 9:18 a.m. on Wednesday, WTI crude oil futures fell 0.99 percent, a 97-cent loss to $97.23 per barrel. Brent crude oil futures edged up 0.07 percent, an 8-cent lift to $109.09 per barrel.
Reuters reports the energy commodity's recent losses are linked with intense civil unrest in Libya, a top supplier of oil in North Africa.
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