Oil prices slide ahead of US EIA Data

Oil prices fell on Thursday as markets await the latest U.S. crude oil stockpiles data. Resilient U.S. economic activity suggests that borrowing costs will remain higher for longer, potentially impacting demand. Brent futures lost 9 cents to trade at $83.52 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WIT) crude was down 3 cents to $79.19.

U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories fell last week, while distillates rose. Analysts projected that U.S. energy firms would pull 1.9 million barrels of crude out of storage, while stocking 0.4 million barrels of distillates and 1 million barrels of gasoline.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) date is due later on Thursday, and any sign of strong demand in EIA’s weekly inventory report should support crude oil prices. Rising global oil inventories through April due to soft fuel demand may strengthen the case for OPEC+ producers to keep supply cuts in place when they meet on June 2. Oil markets have been under pressure due to the expectation that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer.