Oil Prices Mixed

Oil futures were mixed on Wednesday as concerns about oversupply in the market, stoked by a rise in US crude inventories, were offset by a drop in gasoline stocks that lifted hopes for fuel demand recovery amid the re-opening of the global economy.
Brent crude was up 12 cents, or 0.3%, at $42.75 a barrel after falling to $42.30 earlier in the session, CNBC reported. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 1 cents to $40.34 a barrel, paring some of earlier losses.
US crude inventories rose by a much bigger than expected 1.7 million barrels last week, according to industry group the American Petroleum Institute, well ahead of analysts’ expectations for a 300,000-barrel build.
However, US gasoline and distillate inventories fell, the data showed, feeding optimism that fuel consumption is picking up as some economies ease lockdowns imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
US government data will be released soon. “Some investors took profits after the recent rally as they saw higher US crude stockpiles,” Chiyoki Chen, chief analyst at Sunward Trading said.
On Tuesday, both Brent and WTI contracts traded at their highest levels since prices collapsed in early March.