2023.12.2809:18:00UTC+00Oil Extends Declines As Supply Fears Ease

Oil prices fell around 1 percent on Thursday to extend declines from the previous session after some global shipping firms said they were returning to the Red Sea route.

Benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.9 percent to $78.85 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were down 1.1 percent at $73.32.

Fears of supply disruptions ebbed after Maersk and other major shipping companies decided to schedule their container vessels to travel via the Suez Canal and Red Sea again with the deployment of the U.S.-led OPG.

Bearish inventory data also weighed on oil prices. According to The American Petroleum Institute (API), crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 1.837 million barrels for the week ending December 22. There was a 939,000-barrel build in crude inventories in the week prior.

The U.S. Energy Information will release its inventory data later today.