12.09.201806:27:00UTC+00Oil Holds Steady Ahead Of EIA Data

Oil held steady near its highest level this year on Wednesday as investors weighed the impact of the Iran sanctions. A report showing declining U.S. crude inventories also supported prices.

Benchmark Brent crude was marginally higher at $79.08 a barrel after touching as high as $79.66 earlier in the day, the highest since late May, when the price broke above $80 a barrel. U.S. crude futures were up 53 cents at $69.78 a barrel.

U.S. crude supplies dropped by 8.6 million barrels in the week to Sept. 7 to 395.9 million, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday. Supply data from the Energy Information Administration will be released later today.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday cut its forecast for U.S. crude output growth in 2019, while leaving 2018 production and demand growth forecasts unchanged.