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2025-09-17 10:58:37
Oil Prices Remain Steady as Markets Await the Federal Reserve's Interest Rate Decision. 1. Oil prices were stable in early trading on Wednesday. Following the drone attacks on Russian ports and refineries, oil prices rose over 1% on Tuesday. Market focus is now shifting to the Federal Reserve's upcoming interest rate decision, with a rate cut widely expected. 2. Brent crude futures fell slightly by 0.15% to $68.35 per barrel, while WTI futures dipped slightly by 0.12 to $64.44 per barrel. Tuesday's report that Transneft had warned Russian oil producers of possible production cuts due to the attacks sparked market concerns about supply disruptions. Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuel imports from Russia. 3. The market generally expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at this meeting to stimulate the economy and boost fuel demand. IG analyst Tony Sycamore noted that investors are more focused on the number of members supporting a larger rate cut and Powell's subsequent policy signals. He believes that even if the rate cut goes ahead as planned, the rebound in risky assets like crude oil is likely to be short-lived. 4. In terms of inventory, data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories fell last week, while distillate inventories rose. The market is waiting for official EIA data to confirm this. According to a survey, analysts expect EIA crude oil inventories to fall by about 900,000 barrels and gasoline inventories to rise slightly.
