West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices extended their recent decline on Tuesday, dropping to $81.00 per barrel as the US crude oil market struggled to maintain bullish momentum.
According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), US weekly crude oil stocks fell by 1.9 million barrels for the week ending July 5. This decline follows a significant drop of 9.163 million barrels in the previous week, falling short of the expected drawdown of 250,000 barrels. Meanwhile, US distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, increased by 2.3 million barrels, contrary to the anticipated decrease of 740,000 barrels. These factors contributed to tepid to soft crude oil prices on Tuesday.
Additionally, Chinese demand for fossil fuels remains below market expectations, dampening the optimistic outlook that earlier in the year had fueled bullish momentum in crude oil prices.
Despite concerns over Tropical Storm Beryl, which was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane, its impact on US crude oil markets was minimal, failing to generate the anticipated bullish sentiment and keeping WTI prices subdued.
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