Crude oil prices declined sharply and ended at 4-week lows on Wednesday as worries about U.S.-Iran tensions eased a bit and official data showed an unexpected rise in U.S. crude inventories.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $3.09, or about 4.9%, at $59.61 a barrel.
On Tuesday, WTI crude oil futures snapped a three-day winning streak and ended down $0.57, or 0.9%, at $62.70 a barrel.
There were fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East after Iran fired missiles at several U.S. military bases in Iraq. However fears subsided somewhat after Iraq's military said it had no troop casualties in the Iranian strike and U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that "All is well!"
Germany, Denmark and Norway too said none of their troops were killed or injured.
"Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense," Foreign Minister Javad Zarif announced on Twitter. "We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression."
Trump stated that U.S. would hit Iran with new sanctions and but not respond militarily.
According to the data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) this morning, crude oil stockpiles rose 1.2 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 3, as against expectations for a decline of 3.6 million barrels.
Gasoline inventories soared by 9.1 million barrels, almost thrice the expected increase. Meanwhile, distillate stockpiles were up 5.3 million barrels in the week, significantly higher than an expected build of about 3.9 million barrels.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com
source http://www.mt5.com/forex_news/quickview/2149584/
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