Oil slips as strong supply counters Middle East and hurricane risk

By Arunima Kumar

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices erased early gains on Wednesday as weak demand fundamentals and rising supply countered elevated risk of supply disruption from conflict in the Middle East and Hurricane Milton in the United States.

Brent crude futures fell 40 cents, or 0.4%, to $76.81 a barrel by 1028 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures lost 36 cents, or 0.49%, to $73.21.

"We have quite the tug-of-war between the bulls and the bears, with the former pinning expectations of higher prices on Middle Eastern geopolitics while the latter are looking at weak demand and a lack of fiscal stimulus in China," said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of research at Onyx Capital Group.



Data showed that U.S. crude oil stocks rose by nearly 11 million barrels last week, much more than analysts polled by Reuters had expected, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

Weak demand continued to underpin the fundamental outlook. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday downgraded its demand forecast for 2025 on weakening economic activity in China and North America.

Source: Investing.com