Oil Slides as U.S. Inventory Build Fears Eclipse Kazakhstan Outage and Geopolitical Risks

Oil prices eased on Wednesday as expectations of a rise in U.S. crude inventories outweighed supply disruptions in Kazakhstan and renewed geopolitical tensions linked to U.S. tariff threats over Greenland.

Brent futures fell 0.9% to $64.37 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate declined 0.7% to $59.92 by mid-morning in Europe.

Both benchmarks had climbed about 1.5% in the previous session after Kazakhstan halted production at the Tengiz and Korolev oilfields due to power distribution issues. The two fields—among the country’s largest—could remain offline for another seven to ten days, according to industry sources.

Despite the outage, traders focused on signs of growing U.S. supply. A preliminary Reuters poll showed analysts expect crude inventories to have risen by around 1.7 million barrels last week, alongside gains in gasoline stocks. Such builds typically pressure prices by signaling softer near-term demand.

Geopolitical tensions also remain in the background after President Donald Trump reiterated there is “no going back” on his goal to gain control of Greenland, renewing threats of escalating tariffs on European allies. Analysts warn that trade frictions could slow economic growth, dampening oil demand.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute is due later Wednesday, followed by official figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Thursday. While near-term supply data is bearish, some analysts note that the risk of renewed U.S.-Iran tensions could still provide longer-term support for crude prices.