Oil falls marginally after US inventories fall

Oil prices fell marginally in the European market on Wednesday, after hitting biggest daily gain since January yesterday, as prices are still poised for further gains as tensions in the Persian Gulf continue to worsen. whilst concerns about the United States and China trade war have relatively eased, and after US crude inventories fell, according to preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute.

By 09: 54 GMT, US crude dropped to $53.85 per barrel from the opening of $54.08, with a high of $54.36 and a low of $53.70.

Brent crude fell to $61.80 per barrel from the opening of $62.40, with a high of $62.51 and a low of $61.56.

US crude gained 4.1% in yesterday's trading, the third gain in four days, with the biggest daily gain since January, and Brent crude futures rose up by 2.1%.

Tensions in the Gulf region remain high, especially after recent attacks on oil tankers last week. US President Donald Trump said that he is ready to take military actions to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb, but left the question open on whether he would agree to use force to protect Gulf oil supplies.

Fears of possible military confrontations between Iran and the United States have mounted since last Thursday's attacks on two giant oil tankers in the Sea of ​​Oman, where Washington has directly blamed Tehran, and Iran has strongly denied involvement.

Iran threatened this week to violate the internationally agreed restrictions on uranium enrichment and the development of its nuclear weapons and gave 10 days to European countries to salvage the historic nuclear deal.

On the other hand, trade concerns between the United States and China have relatively eased, especially with Donald Trump's assertion that preparations have been made for his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, next week.

In preliminary data, the American Petroleum Institute announced yesterday that the US trade inventories fell by more than 0.8 million barrels during the week ending June 14, the first decline in the last three weeks, while experts expected a decline of about 2 million barrels.

Traders are looking for the official data on the trade inventories and production levels later today in the weekly report of the US Energy Agency.