Oil prices lost ground on Wednesday, with the U.S. benchmark slipping below $58 a barrel to its lowest settlement of the month as traders awaited weekly U.S. data that are expected to show a moderate decline in crude inventories. Traders also looked for comments from key oil producers ahead of a scheduled meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries slated for June 5 in Vienna.
July crude settled at $57.51 a barrel, down 52 cents, or 0.9%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $1.66 cents, or 2.6%, to $62.06 a barrel. The crude complex “is being pushed and prodded around by movements in the currency markets and mumblings, rumblings and rumors swirling” around OPEC ahead of its meeting next week, said Matt Smith, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric. “The meeting is expected to pass with little excitement, as the cartel falls into a conga line of compliance with Saudi’s view,” he said. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest oil producer, has been reluctant to cut production despite the hefty drop in prices for fear of losing market share.
Traders will have to wait until Thursday for weekly petroleum-supply data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which is delayed because of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday. The American Petroleum Institute will release its supply report late Wednesday. Citi Futures forecasts a decline of two million barrels to three million barrels in crude inventories.
Strength in the greenback continues to weigh on dollar-denominated oil prices, which fell 2.8% on Tuesday as the dollar hit an eight-year high against the Japanese yen