A larger than expected accumulation of gasoline inventories in the United States added to the downward pressure.
Brent crude futures were down 43 cents, or 0.5%, at $84.98 a barrel at 0102 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 35 cents, or 0.5%, to $77.59 a barrel.
Both benchmark contracts plunged more than 3% on Wednesday following news that the expected price cap may be higher than the current market level.
The G7 is considering a cap on Russian maritime oil in the $65-70/barrel range, according to a European official, although European Union governments have yet to agree on the issue.
The $65-70/barrel range would be higher than markets had expected, Commonwealth Bank commodities analyst Vivek Dhar said in a report. This would reduce the risk of global supply disruption, Dhar said.
“If the EU accepts an oil price cap of $65-70/bbl this week, we see downside risks to our oil price forecast of $95/bbl this quarter,” Dhar said, adding that forecasts assumed EU sanctions accompanied by a Russian oil price cap would disrupt supply enough to offset lingering global growth concerns.
EU governments will resume talks on Thursday evening or Friday, according to EU diplomats.
Oil prices also came under downward pressure after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday that U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories both rose significantly last week. This increase alleviated some concerns about the market tightening.
But crude inventories fell 3.7 million barrels in the week to November 18 to 431.7 million barrels, compared to analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a drop of 1.1 million barrels. .
Meanwhile, Chevron Corp could soon win U.S. approval to expand operations in Venezuela and resume trading its oil once the Venezuelan government and its opposition resume political talks, four people familiar with the government said on Wednesday. case.
Venezuelan parties and U.S. officials are pushing to hold talks in Mexico City this weekend, the people said. It would be the first such talks since October 2021 and could pave the way for an easing of US oil sanctions against the OPEC nation.
Also putting pressure on lower oil prices, Chinese cities on Wednesday imposed more restrictions to curb rising coronavirus cases, adding to investor worries about the economy and fuel demand.
