FX.co ★ Oil Falls on Rising US Stockpiles

WTI crude oil futures declined towards the $60 mark on Wednesday, reducing the gains from the prior session as a rise in inventories outweighed concerns about potential consequences from sanctions linked to Russia. The American Petroleum Institute (API) disclosed that U.S. crude inventories increased by 4.4 million barrels in the past week, marking the third straight week of growth and potentially reaching the highest level in over five months if confirmed. This data intensified worries that global supply might exceed demand, especially as the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts a record surplus in the coming year. Reflecting the expanding supply, crude stored on tankers surged to nearly 1.4 billion barrels last week, either being transported to buyers or kept in floating storage, as per Vortexa's analysis. However, the impact on prices was somewhat mitigated by upcoming U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, which are anticipated to take effect shortly. In response, principal Asian importers, including China, India, and Turkey, have suspended some purchases, while the diesel market in Europe has experienced strengthening.