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Fuel oil trend

Rotterdam: $ 2 lower
Singapore: $ 1 lower
US Gulf: $ 1 lower

Fed's comments and surprise build in U.S. crude inventories (Brent: $98.5)

Oil price – being dollar-priced - was supported by the USD increasing to 4-year high on comments from the central bank (the Fed) that it would implement more aggressive interest rate policy once a 'considerable time' has passed and the cutback of quantitative easing program has ended. So in the short term, nothing dramatic will happen, but when the Fed start raising interest rates it could happen in a faster than expected pace.

Later today, U.S. housing and job data will be published – and in Europe, all eyes will be on today's independence referendum in Scotland.

Yesterday's weekly oil inventory report from he EIA was pretty much in line with Tuesday's API data; a surprise build in crude, build in distillates and draw in gasoline inventories.

Release: EIA oil data (Consensus)

Crude: 3.673M barrels (-1.614M)
Distillates: 0.279M barrels (0.486M)
Gasoline: -1.635M barrels (0.257M)
Refinery utilization: -0.9%

The recent closure of the large El Sharara oil field due to nearby rocked attacks makes Libyan output slide by around 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 670,000. Unrest continues to take headlines in the war-torn country and output is fragile. But for now, the market seems well supplied, so the setback in output did not affect oil prices.