Oil is stable Thursday after declining in the previous two sessions.
Traders are assessing data on changes in fuel inventories in the U.S., as well as statements of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
The Fed has not yet decided on the amount by which it will raise the benchmark interest rate at the March meeting, said the head of the U.S. central bank. This, he said, will depend on statistical data on inflation and employment in the U.S., which the Fed has yet to assess.
May futures for Brent crude oil on London’s ICE Futures Exchange were quoted at $82.66 a barrel as of 7:03 a.m., the same as at the close of previous trading. The contracts were down $0.63 (0.8%) on Wednesday.
The price of WTI April futures decreased by $0.02 (0.03%) to $76.64 per barrel at electronic auctions of New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). At the end of previous trading the cost of contracts has fallen by $0.92 (1.2%) to $76.66.
U.S. commercial oil inventories fell 1.69 million barrels to 478.51 million barrels last week, according to a weekly report from the Energy Department. This is the first decline in 11 weeks.
Gasoline reserves decreased by 1.13 million barrels, while distillates increased by 138,000 barrels.
Experts were expecting oil reserves to rise by 1.6 million barrels, gasoline reserves to decrease by 2 million barrels and distillates by 1.3 million barrels.
