Oil prices continue to fall

Oil extended its decline after an industry report showed a significant increase in U.S. inventories and broader markets looked weak ahead of the quarter. Brent fell 0.6 percent to $85 a barrel on Tuesday, while U.S. crude was below $81. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute (API) said nationwide inventories rose by 9.3 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the data. The API also reported a 2.4 million barrel increase in crude in its Cushing, Oklahoma, hub, despite lower gasoline inventories. If confirmed by government data due later Wednesday, crude levels in Cushing would post the biggest weekly gain by a barrel since January 2023. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories would have fallen for an eighth straight week, their longest decline in nearly a year. Oil has rebounded this quarter after breaking a narrow range in the first few months of the year. Geopolitical uncertainty amid Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and extended supply cuts by OPEC+ have lifted prices, but a tough economic outlook in China and strong non-OPEC supply growth continue to weigh. “Given the extension of OPEC+’s voluntary cuts and the pickup in demand, we should see a slightly tighter market in the second quarter,” said Sean Lim, an analyst at RHB Investment Bank Bhd in Kuala Lumpur.