Oil is Down More Than 4% as Increase in US Stockpiles Fueled Fears of Excess Supplies

Oil prices plunged on Wednesday, giving up the gains they had made the previous day, as an increase in US crude stocks and a rise in coronavirus cases in Europe and the United States fueled concerns about oversupply and weak demand for fuel.

Brent crude futures fell $ 1.60 to $ 39.60 a barrel, after rising about two% yesterday.

U.S. crude fell $ 1.84, or 4.6%, to $ 37.73 a barrel, after rising 2.6% on Tuesday.

The American Petroleum Institute data revealed that US crude and gasoline inventories increased last week, as crude inventories increased by 4.6 million barrels to reach about 495.2 million barrels, which far exceeds the expectations of analysts in a Reuters poll, increasing by 1.2 million barrels.

Energy companies and ports on the coast of the United States on the Gulf of Mexico are preparing today for Hurricane Zita.

The United States, Russia, France and other countries have recorded record increases in cases of coronavirus cases in recent days, and European governments have imposed new restrictions in an attempt to curb the rapid spread of the disease.

The pressure on oil markets increases expectations that Libya’s oil production will grow to one million barrels per day in the coming weeks.