Oil Prices Fall by 2.5% Over Demand Worries

International oil prices fell by over 2.5 percent on Wednesday over a bigger-than-expected increase in US gasoline inventories worried markets regarding demand. Brent crude futures were down $1.96, or 2.53 percent, to $75.27 a barrel by 1558 GMT, while the US WTI crude futures were down $2.19, or 3.03 percent, to $70.14 a barrel. It is pertinent to mention here that both benchmarks settled at their lowest level since July 6 on Tuesday, after the fourth straight session of losses. Last week, OPEC+ agreed on voluntary output cuts of about 2.2 million barrels per day for the first quarter of 2024. This week, Saudi and Russian officials said the cuts could be extended or deepened beyond March. Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia today to meet with the UAE’s President and Saudi Crown Prince with oil and OPEC+ on the agenda.