SINGAPORE”•Oil prices slipped to fresh three-month lows Wednesday as worries about a global oversupply resurface ahead of the release of US stockpiles data later in the day.
With the US summer driving season”•when demand peaks”•drawing to a close investors are growing increasingly concerned that stocks in the world’s top crude consumer remain at elevated levels.
The Energy Information Administration is due to release a report Wednesday, with a survey of analysts warning gasoline inventories rose in the previous week, while oil supplies dipped for a tenth week.
The EIA last week announced a smaller-than-forecast drop, which sparked a sell-off in the commodity.
On Wednesday at around 0715 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was down 22 cents at $42.70 while Brent fell 25 cents to $44.62. The losses come after a three-day sell-off.
“The general driver behind the negativity seems to be the excess crude and gasoline stockpiles,” Angus Nicholson, a markets analyst at IG Ltd. in Melbourne, said.
