OIL prices slipped more than US$1 on Wednesday as US commercial inventories rose, while weaker economic data from China and dimmed prospects of interest rate cuts stoked worries about global demand.
Brent futures for June were down US$1.01, or 1.32, to US$89.01 a barrel at 11.19 am EST (1619 GMT), while US crude futures for May were down 88 cents, or 1 per cent, at US$84.48 a barrel. Both were on track for their biggest fall since March 20.
Oil prices have softened this week as economic headwinds curb gains from geopolitical tensions, with markets eyeing how Israel might respond to Iran’s weekend attack.
Analysts do not expect Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone strike on Israel to prompt dramatic US sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.
“Oil prices go about their business of unwinding some of the war premium that has been priced in,” said John Evans at oil broker PVM, adding that they also faced “a setback in interest rate cut hopes.”
Crude inventories rose by 2.7 million barrels to 460 million barrels in the week ending April 12, the EIA said, nearly double analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel build.
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