LONDON: Oil prices slipped on Wednesday, under pressure from a rise in US crude and gasoline inventories although crude remained near three-year highs.
Brent futures eased 24 cents to $69.72 a barrel at 0930 GMT, after climbing above $70 this month for first time since 2014. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were unchanged at $64.47 a barrel.
The American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday crude inventories rose by 4.8 million barrels in the latest week, compared with expectations for a decline of 1.6 million barrels. Gasoline inventories also rose.
Official US government inventory data is due out later on Wednesday and will watched to see if the numbers confirm a rise.
“The market has rallied by 50 percent and a lot of investors have been involved for a long time,” Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.
“At what level would we start to attract some nervousness on the downside?” he said. “We probably need to break below $60 on WTI to put the cat among the pigeons ... It’s going to take more than just a stock-build today to change that equation.”
Money managers hold more bullish positions in crude futures and options than at any time on record, which has been encouraged by falling global inventories on the back of supply cuts by OPEC, Russia and its allies.
But some traders are showing signs of seeking protection against a fall in crude prices. Trading data shows open interest for Brent put options for a selling at $70, $69 and $68 per barrel has climbed since the middle of last week.
Sukrit Vijayakar energy consultancy Trifecta said the rising options to sell were a result of huge amounts of long positions that have been built up in past months.
“We still have ... nine long barrels for every short barrel, so a reversal should be interesting to watch,” he said.
But traders said oil prices were unlikely to fall far as markets were supported by strong global economic growth pushing up oil demand and output restraint by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and others.
The deal to withhold output started in January last year and is currently set to last through 2018.
Oil prices ease as US crude inventories rise unexpectedly
Oil prices ease as US crude inventories rise unexpectedly
Saudi Arabia’s industrial production jumps 10.4% in January: GASTAT
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s industrial production index rose to 115 in January, up 10.4 percent from a year earlier, driven by higher crude output and stronger mining activity, official data showed.
The latest report released by the General Authority for Statistics showed that the annual surge was primarily fueled by a 13.3 percent jump in the mining and quarrying sub-index, which includes oil production.
Saudi Arabia raised crude oil output to 10.1 million barrels per day in January from 8.9 million barrels per day a year earlier, supporting growth in the mining and quarrying sub-index and contributing to the broader expansion in industrial activity.
The latest IPI figures underscore continued momentum in the Kingdom’s industrial sector as Saudi Arabia pursues economic diversification under its Vision 2030 agenda.
The manufacturing sector, a key pillar of the Kingdom’s economic diversification efforts, also contributed positively to the annual growth. The manufacturing sub-index rose by 6.8 percent compared to January of the previous year.
This was underpinned by strong performances in the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products, which grew by 10.6 percent, and the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products, which increased by 9.1 percent. The food products industry also saw an annual growth of 9.1 percent.
The water supply, sewerage, and waste management activities recorded the highest annual growth among the major sectors, increasing by 11.7 percent.
Despite the strong year-on-year performance, the IPI showed a slight contraction on a monthly basis, decreasing by 0.5 percent compared to December 2025. This decline was driven by a 1.4 percent drop in the manufacturing sub-index from the previous month.
The monthly downturn in manufacturing was largely attributed to decreases in the same sectors that fueled its annual growth, with coke and petroleum products down 1.1 percent and chemicals down 1.2 percent.
A breakdown by main economic activities shows that the index for oil activities jumped 12.5 percent annually, while non-oil activities also posted a healthy gain of 5.3 percent.
On a monthly basis, both indices saw minor declines, with oil activities dipping 0.1 percent and non-oil activities falling by 1.5 percent.
The electricity, gas, and air conditioning supply sub-index was the only major sector to record an annual decrease, falling by 1.3 percent compared to January 2025.
