Crude prices were seen trading lower on Wednesday as the tension in Ukraine eases, reducing the negative impact on the market.
The North American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery came in 0.42% lower trading at $98.49 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at the time of writing, while the Brent crude fell 0.11% lower to $106.68 per barrel at the same time.
Crude – Ukraine
On Tuesday, the Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty on Crimea joining the Russian Federation.
Following the signing of treaties, President Vladimir Putin said he was not interested in seizing any other part of Ukraine, however the Western nations, including the US and the European Union imposed travel bans and sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials responsible for the Crimean referendum.
Crude – Other news
According to reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API), the US crude oil inventories added 5.9 million barrels in the last week, while gasoline stocks dropped by 1.4 million barrels.
Reports from the US Department of Energy Information Administration (EIA) are expected to be released later in the day.
Investors are also focusing on the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) March policy meeting which will end later in the day. Analysts are expecting the US central bank to reduce its monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion to $55 billion.
Meanwhile in Iran, the Persian Gulf broke sanctions imposed by the Western nations for the fourth consecutive month in February, as it sold over 1 million barrels a day.
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