Oil left its sloping price channel, where the asset was traded for almost a week. Impulse declining started at around $67 per barrel was bought off only from the level of $64. In just a few hours, oil lost 4.6% and afterward bull correction returned quotes in the area of $65. The reason for this reaction was the new fears of an escalation of the trade conflict between the United States and China. US President Donald Trump said during a briefing at the White House that Washington and Beijing "have a long way to go" in trade negotiations. He also noted that he could introduce duties on Chinese exports worth another $325 billion if he wanted to.
Published on Wednesday, statistics on crude oil inventories, as always, added some volatility to the trading. The market expected that last week’s oil inventories in the USA would decrease by 2.7 million barrels, gasoline reserves - by 925 thousand barrels, and distillates - will grow by 600 thousand barrels. Actual data of crude oil inventories was slightly better than the forecast: -3.1 million barrels. But the reserves of gasoline and distillates were significantly higher - 5.69 million and 3.56 million, respectively.