The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday reported a decrease of 1.3 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Dec. 23.

The API reported a drop of 3.069 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices declined on Wednesday as market participants awaited data on U.S. fuel stockpiles.

The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery lost 57 cents, or 0.7 percent, to settle at 78.96 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery decreased 1.07 dollars, or 1.3 percent, to settle at 83.26 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Traders continued to worry about potential demand loss from rising interest rates in a slowing global economy.

“The fundamentals for oil and products are still very bullish,” Phil Flynn, senior energy analyst at The PRICE Futures Group, said in a note on Wednesday.

“We expect that in the new year we’re going to see demand outstrip supply,” given the prospect of rising demand from China, he said.
Source: Xinhua