Crude oil prices declined for the second consecutive session on Wednesday. The Energy Information Administration reported the first weekly US crude inventories decline in 11 weeks, but failed to support prices in the wake of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments on the outlook for interest rates in congressional testimony this week. The oil market still had “a bit of a hangover from Powell’s comments,” said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst, Americas, Kepler. In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, Powell warned that interest rates would need to rise higher than before to get inflation under control. On Wednesday, he told the House Financial Services Panel that the central bank has not made a decision on the size of a potential interest rate hike this month. April West Texas Intermediate Crude CLJ23,
It fell 92 cents, or 1.2%, to $76.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Credit: www.marketwatch.com /