Brent Crude Oil trades at $71 per barrel

Brent crude futures were little changed around $71 a barrel on Wednesday, as the market pauses for breath after a 9% rally in the first 2 days of the week, which erased most of the slump from a seven-day losing streak early in the month.

Although concerns over the impact of the coronavirus delta variant on fuel demand persist, there were signs that China is bringing its latest outbreak under control.

On the production side, fresh API data showed US crude inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels in the latest week, less than forecasts of a 2.7 million drop, while gasoline stockpiles fell by 1 million barrels, also below forecasts of 1.6 million.

Meanwhile, about a quarter of Mexico’s oil production was cut after a fire on an offshore platform operated by Pemex on Sunday.

Brent Crude oil is a major benchmark price for purchases of oil worldwide. While Brent Crude oil is sourced from the North Sea the oil production coming from Europe, Africa and the Middle East flowing West tends to be priced relative to this oil.

Source: Trading Economics