Oil fell for a third day as industry data pointed to rising US crude stockpiles with demand concerns hanging over the market.
West Texas Intermediate dipped below $68 a barrel and is down around 7% so far this week, pressured by a lackluster physical oil market and more signs of a sluggish economic recovery in China. The American Petroleum Institute reported crude inventories swelled by 5.2 million barrels last week, which would be the biggest gain since February if confirmed by government data.
Oil is on track for its first weekly decline since mid-May as OPEC+ prepares to meet in Vienna over the weekend to discuss the group’s output policy. Resilient Russian exports are part of the reason why futures are down around 16% this year, as well as aggressive monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve.
The API also reported stockpiles of US gasoline and distillates rose, according to people familiar with the data. The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release official figures later Wednesday.
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