Forexpros – Crude oil futures softened on Thursday as U.S. inventories rose, while concerns that the European economy is fraught with uncertainty despite a recently approved EUR130 billion Greek bailout sent investors selling the commodity for profits.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at USD105.78 a barrel, down 0.48%.
The commodity hit an earlier session high of USD106.11 and a low of USD105.74.
Oil soared recently when news broke that European finance ministers agreed to hand over EUR130 billion in rescue funding to Greece, which doused fears the country would miss a bond payment in March and run through a messy default.
However, manufacturing and services output data for both the eurozone and its largest economy, Germany, came in weaker than expected, which fueled some concerns that the European economy may be a little weaker than once thought and will need less oil.
Plus Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece to C from CCC due to terms of bailout package.
Furthermore, the American Petroleum Institute reported that oil inventories rose more than expected during the previous week, which may suggest U.S. consumers are forgoing driving due to rising fuel prices.
Official figures are due out later Thursday.
Ongoing tensions between the West and Iran prevented oil from falling too far.
U.N. nuclear inspectors in the country left recently after talks with the regime ended in failure.
On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for April delivery were down 0.05% and trading at USD122.68 a barrel, up USD16.90 from its U.S. counterpart.
The gap in price between the two contracts is pushing toward the higher end of a range between a nearly USD20.00 all-time high and a historical spread of USD1.00.
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