Crude contracts were trading lower at midday Wednesday even after the Energy Information Administration reported U.S. oil stocks fell by more than 3 million bbl in the week ended Friday.
The NYMEX September West Texas Intermediate contract was down by 25cts to $65.05/bbl at about noon ET and the October WTI contract was 20cts lower at $64.25/bbl.
The September ICE Brent contract was off by 30cts to about $68.35/bbl and October Brent was 10cts lower at $67.70/bbl.
Both benchmarks are on track for a fourth-straight day of declines on continued global economic worries given uncertainty over U.S. trade policy.
The European Union on Wednesday appeared ready to retaliate against U.S. tariffs if the 27-nation bloc cannot reach a deal with the Trump administration. The U.S. and Japan on Tuesday reached a deal that would impose a 15% tariff on U.S. imports of Japanese goods, down from the 25% rate President Trump initially proposed.
The NYMEX September RBOB contract was up by 1.65cts to $2.086/gal and the August RBOB contract was 1.7cts higher at $2.119/gal, after EIA reported U.S. stocks fell last week. Distillate futures, which have been outperforming gasoline contracts, were down. The NYMEX September ULSD contract was off by 0.65ct to $2.4145/gal and August ULSD was 1.20ct lower at $2.44/gal.
EIA at midmorning reported U.S. commercial crude oil stocks fell last week by 3.2 million bbl. Gasoline holdings fell by 1.8 million bbl and distillate inventories rose by 2.9 million bbl, the agency said.
In U.S. cash refined product markets, Pacific Northwest sub-octane gasoline prices were up by about 4cts, while most other spot products were mirroring moves in futures.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 23, 2025 12:53 ET (16:53 GMT)
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