On Wednesday, oil futures of West Texas Intermediate are decreasing, as market participants are preparing for the weekly data on stocks of crude oil and petroleum products in the United States, to gauge the strength of demand from the world's largest consumer.
During European morning trade, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude oil for August delivery fell 23 cents, or 0.44%, to get traded at $ 52.80 for a barrel. A day earlier, crude oil futures on Nymex reached $ 50.38, the lowest level since April 6 before getting recovered at $ 53.04, up 84 cents, or 1.61%.
Government data, expected on Wednesday, may show a decrease in crude oil reserves the US last week by 1.2 million barrels, while gasoline stocks are forecasted to have increased by 0.7 million barrels per day.
After the close of trading on Tuesday, American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that the weekly US crude oil supplies fell 7.3 million barrels for the week ended July 10, instead of the expected decline by 1.8 million barrels.
In New York, crude oil futures came under heavy pressure in recent weeks amid concerns over rising production in the United States.
The research group Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) said on Friday that the number of oil drilling rigs in the United States grew with 5 the last week to 645, increasing the second week after 29 weeks of contraction.
At the stock exchange ICE in London, Brent crude for September delivery fell 48 cents, or 0.82%, getting to $ 58.20 for a barrel. On Tuesday, oil futures for Brent crude touched $ 56.75 before rising to $ 58.68, up 53 cents, or 0.91%.
Today, the spread between oil Brent and WTI is $ 5.40 per barrel compared with $ 5.64 at the close of the previous session.
Traders of energy market estimate the impact of yesterday deal on Iran's nuclear program. Initially, oil prices have fallen by more than 2% as Iran and six world powers have reached a long-awaited agreement with Tehran whereby sanctions would be lifted in exchange for a reduction in the disputed nuclear program.
However, prices recovered to the end of the session, as market analysts believe that Iran will take a few months to substantially increase the export of oil.