Oil fell in the wake of equity market

Oil prices went down on Wednesday: ICE Brent for July delivery dropped by 2.5%, to settle at $109.11/b and NYMEX WTI for June delivery also decreased by 2.5% to $109.59/b.

The increasing fears about economic growth and inflation knocked oil price down from a six-week high following the tumbling equity markets (see daily ECO comment).

In Venezuela, President Maduro and his opponents are expected to announce the reopening of talks, supporting the case for an easing of US sanctions on the country. That could result in the addition of crude barrels to the market and fueled yesterday’s bearish sentiment.

The latest EIA weekly report found that commercial crude inventories shrank by -3.4mb last week. And gasoline inventories slid by -4.8mb, that is the seventh decrease in a row, the pressure on gasoline market continues to mount as this inventory level in May (before the start of the driving season) is an eight-year low. For more details, see Weekly EIA Report – Week ending 13 May.

Today oil rebound, NYMEX WTI trades +0.5% higher.