A previous version of the story included an incorrect time reference regarding crude stocks in the U.S. SPR. Stocks in the reserve are below 500 million barrels for the first time since 1986. Oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, easing back after three consecutive session gains, even as a more than three million-barrel drop in U.S. crude supplies over the past two weeks fed concerns over tight global inventories.
Price action
West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery
CL.1,
-1.81%
CL00,
-1.81%
CLQ22,
-1.81%
fell $1.98, or 1.8%, to settle at $109.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The front month the global benchmark August Brent crude contract
CLQ22,
-1.81%
shed $1.72, or 1.5%, to $116.26 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. The most active September Brent crude contract
BRN00,
-0.03%
BRNU22,
-0.03%
lost $1.35, or 1.2%, to end at $112.45 a barrel.
Back on Nymex, July gasoline
RBN22,
-2.79%
fell nearly 2.8% to $3.827 a gallon, while July heating oil
HON22,
-3.88%
shed 3.9% to $4.0367 a gallon.
August natural gas
NGQ22,
-0.90%
lost 1.1% to $6.498 per million British thermal units.
Market drivers Crude prices had climbed for three sessions in a row, with support tied to strong underlying demand and tightening supplies, before settling lower on Wednesday. Tariq Zahir, …