DTN Oil Update

Karim Bastati
DTN Analyst

VIENNA (DTN) -- Oil prices steadied Wednesday morning after having slipped more than 2% in Tuesday's session. The fall was feathered by an industry report late Tuesday suggesting another decline in U.S. oil inventories ahead of official government data releases due Wednesday.

NYMEX-traded WTI for October delivery rose $0.13 to trade near $63.38 per barrel (bbl), and ICE Brent for October delivery gained $0.09 to $67.31 bbl.

September RBOB gasoline futures added $0.0136 to $2.1359 per gallon, and the front-month ULSD contract advanced $0.0022 to $2.2827 per gallon.

The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened by 0.378 points to 98.500.

Concerns over the Federal Reserve's political independence led to a broader selloff, serving as a catalyst to growing bearish sentiment and erasing earlier gains which were driven by Russian supply woes and rate cut optimism.

The doubling of tariffs on imports from India in response to the country's Russian crude oil purchases came into effect today, raising import duties from 25% to 50%. So far, however, there were no signs that Indian refiners, who over the past three years have become the main buyers of Russian crude oil, were stepping back from their purchases.

The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported across-the-board declines in U.S. crude oil, gasoline and diesel stocks. A second consecutive draw to crude oil and gasoline inventories, along with a nearly 500,000 bbl draw in Cushing, Oklahoma, the WTI futures delivery point, lent some price support. Official government oil inventory data is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. EDT release today.