New York May 1 2024: Oil prices fell about 2% to a seven-week low on Wednesday on a surprise build in U.S. crude stocks, the prospect of a Middle East ceasefire agreement and persistent U.S. inflation dampening the expected pace of interest rate cuts and oil demand growth.
Brent futures fell $1.39, or 1.6%, to $84.94 a barrel by 10:40 a.m. EDT (1440 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.39, or 1.7%, to $80.54.
That put both benchmarks on track to close at their lowest levels since March 13 and also pushed both into technically oversold territory for the first time since December 2023.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said energy firms added a surprise 7.3 million barrels of crude into stockpiles during the week ended April 26.
That compares with the 1.1 million barrel withdrawal analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and the 4.9 million barrel increase shown in data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group.
