Oil prices eased for a fourth straight session on Thursday after the minutes of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting revealed discussions of a further tightening of interest rates if inflation remained sticky, a move that could hurt oil demand.
Brent crude futures fell 46 cents, or 0.6%, to $81.44 a barrel at 0424 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures were down 54 cents, or 0.7%, at $77.03. Both benchmarks fell more than 1% on Wednesday.
Minutes released on Wednesday from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting showed the U.S. central bank’s response to sticky inflation would “involve maintaining” its policy rate for now but also reflected discussion of possible further hikes. “Various participants mentioned a willingness to tighten policy further should risks to inflation materialize in a way that such an action became appropriate,” minutes of the Fed’s meeting said.
Higher interest rates boost borrowing costs, crunching funds that could boost economic growth and oil demand in the world’s largest oil consuming nation. Also weighing on the market, U.S. crude stocks rose by 1.8 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Information Administration, compared with an estimate for a 2.5 million-barrel draw.
