Investing.com - Crude oil futures swung between modest gains and losses during European morning trade on Wednesday, as investors looked forward to Thursday's meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna as well as a supply report from the U.S. later in the day.
Mounting concerns over rising borrowing costs in Spain and Italy, as well as jitters ahead of weekend elections in Greece weighed on sentiment.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at USD83.39 a barrel during European morning trade, easing up 0.1%.
The July contract traded in between a tight range of USD82.64, the daily low and USD83.53, the session’s high. Prices touched an eight-month low of USD81.11 a barrel on Tuesday.
Oil traders shifted their attention to Thursday's meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna. The agency supplies nearly 40% of the world’s crude.
OPEC most recently said it was pumping 32.4 million barrels a day of oil, a level not seen since the summer of 2008 and 2.4 million barrels more than the official 30-million-barrel-limit agreed to at the last meeting in December.
Market analysts expect the oil group to keep output high as tightening sanctions reduce oil output in Iran. The country is OPEC's second-largest producer behind Saudi Arabia, which has boosted output to account for the decline in Iranian exports.
Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali Naimi said on Tuesday his country would not ask OPEC to increase production levels at this week's meeting, contradicting comments he made from a day earlier.
Iran and Venezuela have recently criticized other members of the cartel for producing more than the existing quota.
A potential loss of Iranian oil supplies has helped underpin strong gains in oil prices during late last year and the first quarter of this year.
But prices declined as the market took into account assurances from Saudi Arabia that it would make up for any supply shortfalls against the potential risk for the loss of oil from Iran.
According to a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industrial officials and analysts released on June 8, oil output in Iran fell to 3.25 million barrels per day in May, while Saudi Arabia’s rose 50,000 barrels to 10 million barrels, the highest since 1980.
Oil traders were also looking ahead to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s closely-watched weekly report on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products later in the day.
The report was expected to show that U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by 1.4 million barrels last week.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.6 million barrels last week, defying expectations for a decline of 1.5 million barrels.
The U.S. is the world’s biggest oil-consuming country, responsible for almost 22% of global oil demand.
Meanwhile, growing concerns over rising borrowing costs in Spain and Italy, as well as jitters ahead of weekend elections in Greece, which could determine the course of the country’s future in the euro zone weighed on appetite for riskier assets.
Investors remained cautious as Italy’s Treasury was preparing to sell up to EUR6.5 billion of 364-day bills later in the day, followed by a longer-maturity debt auction on Thursday.
Spain is the fourth euro-zone nation to seek a rescue, after Greece, Portugal and Ireland. A financial crisis has gripped the country since 2008, when a real estate bust caused big losses for many banks.
There are worries that the region’s worsening sovereign debt crisis could trigger a broader economic slowdown that would curb demand for oil.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for August delivery rose 0.45% to trade at 97.42 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD14.03.
Mounting concerns over rising borrowing costs in Spain and Italy, as well as jitters ahead of weekend elections in Greece weighed on sentiment.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at USD83.39 a barrel during European morning trade, easing up 0.1%.
The July contract traded in between a tight range of USD82.64, the daily low and USD83.53, the session’s high. Prices touched an eight-month low of USD81.11 a barrel on Tuesday.
Oil traders shifted their attention to Thursday's meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna. The agency supplies nearly 40% of the world’s crude.
OPEC most recently said it was pumping 32.4 million barrels a day of oil, a level not seen since the summer of 2008 and 2.4 million barrels more than the official 30-million-barrel-limit agreed to at the last meeting in December.
Market analysts expect the oil group to keep output high as tightening sanctions reduce oil output in Iran. The country is OPEC's second-largest producer behind Saudi Arabia, which has boosted output to account for the decline in Iranian exports.
Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali Naimi said on Tuesday his country would not ask OPEC to increase production levels at this week's meeting, contradicting comments he made from a day earlier.
Iran and Venezuela have recently criticized other members of the cartel for producing more than the existing quota.
A potential loss of Iranian oil supplies has helped underpin strong gains in oil prices during late last year and the first quarter of this year.
But prices declined as the market took into account assurances from Saudi Arabia that it would make up for any supply shortfalls against the potential risk for the loss of oil from Iran.
According to a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industrial officials and analysts released on June 8, oil output in Iran fell to 3.25 million barrels per day in May, while Saudi Arabia’s rose 50,000 barrels to 10 million barrels, the highest since 1980.
Oil traders were also looking ahead to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s closely-watched weekly report on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products later in the day.
The report was expected to show that U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by 1.4 million barrels last week.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.6 million barrels last week, defying expectations for a decline of 1.5 million barrels.
The U.S. is the world’s biggest oil-consuming country, responsible for almost 22% of global oil demand.
Meanwhile, growing concerns over rising borrowing costs in Spain and Italy, as well as jitters ahead of weekend elections in Greece, which could determine the course of the country’s future in the euro zone weighed on appetite for riskier assets.
Investors remained cautious as Italy’s Treasury was preparing to sell up to EUR6.5 billion of 364-day bills later in the day, followed by a longer-maturity debt auction on Thursday.
Spain is the fourth euro-zone nation to seek a rescue, after Greece, Portugal and Ireland. A financial crisis has gripped the country since 2008, when a real estate bust caused big losses for many banks.
There are worries that the region’s worsening sovereign debt crisis could trigger a broader economic slowdown that would curb demand for oil.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for August delivery rose 0.45% to trade at 97.42 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD14.03.