(Reuters) – Oil fell below $70 a barrel on Wednesday, pressured by a CNBC report that the White House will call on OPEC and its allies to boost production in an effort to combat climbing gasoline prices.
The price of Brent crude is up 35% this year supported by OPEC-led supply curbs, even after oil last week suffered the steepest weekly loss in months on worries that travel restrictions to curb coronavirus infections will hit demand.
Brent crude was down 86 cents, or 1.2%, to $69.77 a barrel at 1030 GMT, following a 2.3% rally on Tuesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped 80 cents, or 1.2%, to $67.49, after a 2.7% jump on Tuesday.
Before the CNBC report, crude was trading above $70 as signs of rising fuel demand in the United States offset concerns about travel curbs in Asia caused by the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.
Industry data showed U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell last week, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said U.S. job growth and increasing mobility had boosted gasoline consumption so far this year.
“The EIA’s upbeat demand forecasts for this year helped alleviate fears of a deteriorating near-term outlook,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.
The Delta variant has been detected in more than a dozen Chinese cities since the first cases were found in July, prompting some new travel restrictions, while U.S. cases and hospitalisations have soared to six-month highs.
In focus later will be the EIA’s official U.S. inventory figures at 1430 GMT. On Tuesday, oil industry group the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. crude stocks fell by 816,000 barrels and gasoline stocks dropped by 1.1 million barrels last week.
