Photo caption: Oil
Oil prices lost about 1 per cent on Wednesday after Kazakhstan struck a defiant tone about its rising oil output, erasing earlier gains on the back of U.S. sanctions against Iran, falling U.S. crude stocks and President Donald Trump softening his tone on China.
Brent crude futures hit their highest since April 4 at $68.65 a barrel but were down 68 cents, or 1 per cent, at $66.76 by 1237 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 70 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $62.97.
Sending bearish signals, Kazakhstan’s new Energy Minister told Reuters that his country will prioritize national interests over those of the OPEC+ producer group when deciding its oil output levels.
Kazakhstan has angered other OPEC+ members by producing more than its alloted quota.
Providing a floor to prices, the U.S. issued new sanctions targeting an Iranian shipping magnate whose network handles Iranian liquefied petroleum gas and crude oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Further price support came from U.S. crude oil inventories that fell by about 4.6 million barrels last week while gasoline stocks declined by 2.2 million barrels and distillate inventories dropped by 1.6 million barrels, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute data.
U.S. government data on oil stockpiles is due at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Wednesday. U.S. crude oil stocks are expected to have declined by 800,000 barrels last week, a Reuters poll showed.
Stoking hopes of higher energy demand, Trump on Tuesday signaled the possibility of lower tariffs on Chinese imports. The Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the United States should stop making threats if it wants to make a deal.
Trump also backed away from the threat of firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell after days of criticizing the Fed for not cutting interest rates.
=== Reuters ===
