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BEIJING\/SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell on Wednesday, retreating after a two-day rally following an unexpectedly \u200clarge build in US crude inventories, while supply disruptions in the Middle East lingered.<\/p>\n
Brent crude futures fell 73 cents, or 0.67 percent, to $108.02 a barrel at 07:50 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate futures were down $1.1, or 1.04 percent, at $104.73 a barrel.<\/p>\n
Both benchmarks settled \u200bmore than $3 higher and at their highest levels since May 19 on Tuesday, as the Yanbu \u200bloading suspension stoked supply concerns and Saudi Arabia cut<\/u> oil shipments to Europe.<\/p>\n
US crude oil, \u2060gasoline and distillate inventories all rose last week, market sources said on Tuesday, citing data from the American Petroleum \u200bInstitute.<\/p>\n
Crude inventories rose by 7.1 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 11, the sources said, citing API \u200bdata. That compared with analysts\u2019 expectations for a draw of about 1.6 million barrels, according to a Reuters poll.<\/p>\n
API\u2019s data showed unexpected builds in gasoline and diesel inventories have weighed on prices, but regional stock increases do not change the underlying tightness in \u200bthe global crude market, Haitong Futures said in a note.<\/p>\n
Despite the inventory pressure, prices remained resilient as traders \u200bfocused on disruptions to physical supplies, said Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova, in a report on \u200cWednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bigger \u2060concern remains the disruption to Saudi Arabia\u2019s East-West pipeline and Yanbu export infrastructure, following attacks on Saudi energy facilities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
European diesel futures rose to a record high on Tuesday, further highlighting tightness in fuel markets as Middle East disruptions constrained crude and product flows.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia is offering more loadings<\/u> of crude oil to Asian refiners via ship-to-ship transfers off Oman\u2019s \u200bSohar port after drone attacks damaged its key oil pipeline to the Red \u200bSea, people familiar \u2060with the matter said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Visible vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz remained in the single digits<\/u> at four on Tuesday, down from seven a day earlier, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday, falling well short of the \u206010-day average \u200bof 18.<\/p>\n
The drop in traffic through the waterway that handled a \u200bfifth of the world\u2019s oil and liquefied natural gas supply before the US-Israeli war on Iran started comes after attacks in the \u200bregion intensified.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n