Oil falls in price on the growth of stocks in the US

MOSCOW, 28 Sep — PRIME. World oil prices on Wednesday morning are down by more than 1%, according to trading data. Investors win back the data of the American Petroleum Institute (API) on the strong growth of oil inventories in the US for the week.

As of 8:09 Moscow time, the price of December futures for Brent crude fell by 1.31%, to $83.76 per barrel, November futures for WTI — by 1.38%, to $77.42.

On Wednesday night, the API said it estimates a rise in US commercial inventories for the week ending September 23 by about 4.2 million barrels. Official statistics on commercial stocks in the country for the past week will be published by the Ministry of Energy on Wednesday evening. Analysts are expecting an increase in inventories of only 0.4 million barrels.

A new stage of strengthening the US currency is also negative for oil quotes. Thus, the dollar index (the exchange rate against a basket of currencies of six countries – US trading partners) grew by 0.43%, to 114.59 points. A more expensive dollar makes commodities, including oil, less available to buy in another currency.

Investors are more cautious, also assessing price support factors. So, the markets are watching Hurricane Ian. According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), Ian has already passed Cuba and is approaching Florida, threatening oil production in the region. According to the latest data from the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), “Ian” has led to a halt of 11% of oil production and 8.56% of gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Traders pay attention to the news on OPEC +. Earlier, Reuters reported that Russia is likely to propose to the alliance to cut oil production by about one million barrels a day at its next meeting in October.