U.S. crude oil edged lower Wednesday with the Federal Reserve’s pivotal decision on interest rates this afternoon unlikely to provide much in the way of support.
The oil market has been rattled this month by worries about a growing imbalance between supply and demand. The U.S. benchmark is down about 13% in the third quarter, while global benchmark Brent has fallen about 15%.
West Texas Intermediate: October contract: $70.85 per barrel, down 34 cents, or 0.48%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is down about 1%.
Brent
November contract: $73.35 per barrel, down 35 cents, or 0.47%. Year to date, the global benchmark has fallen more than 4%.
RBOB Gasoline: October contract: $1.9969 per gallon, down 0.25%. Year to date, gasoline has dropped about 5%.
Natural Gas: October contract: $2.357 per thousand cubic feet, up 1.42%. Year to date, gas has pulled back more than 6%.
Consumption in China is slowing as electric vehicle sales surge in the world’s largest crude importer. At the same time, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+ is expected to increase production in December as output in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Guyana remains strong.