Oil settled marginally lower on Wednesday, and prices were on course for their steepest annual decline since 2020 as investors weighed U.S. economic growth and assessed the risk of supply disruptions from Venezuela and Russia.
Brent crude futures closed down 14 cents, or 0.2 per cent, at $62.24 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude eased 3 cents, or 0.05 per cent, to $58.29.
Both contracts have gained about 6 per cent since December 16, when they plunged to near five-year lows.
“What we’ve seen over the past week is a combination of position-squaring in thin markets after last week’s breakdown failed to gain traction, coupled with heightened geopolitical tensions including the U.S. blockade on Venezuela, and supported by last night’s robust GDP data,” IG analyst Tony Sycamore said.
