Oil strengthened the decline in the middle of the week

On Wednesday afternoon, oil quotes intensified their decline amid growing fears over demand due to additional coronavirus travel restrictions in the world. The current price for October Brent futures is $71.30 per barrel. The price of WTI oil is also showing a decline – September futures fell in price to $69.20 per barrel.

Investors continue to monitor the situation with the coronavirus in the world. The dynamics of the market continues to deteriorate, as the risks of a decrease in demand for fuel are still high. In particular, an increase in infections with the delta coronavirus in China, the largest oil importer, has led to restrictions on movement in some cities.

An additional factor in the decline in prices for «black gold» was the data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), according to which commercial oil reserves in the United States fell by only 879 thousand barrels per week after falling by 4.73 million barrels a week earlier.

Today, all traders' attention is focused on the official data on reserves from the US Department of Energy. Analysts expect the figure to fall 3.1 million barrels after falling 4.1 million a week earlier.