Oil Prices Ease After Three-day Rally

(RTTNews) - Oil prices were slightly lower on Wednesday after three days of strong gains.

Brent crude futures for July delivery slipped 0.3 percent to $107.46 a barrel while WTI crude futures for June delivery were down 0.6 percent at $101.58.

Traders booked some profits at higher levels after the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its monthly oil market report.

The IEA said global crude oil supply will plunge below demand this year due to ongoing U.S.-Iran war.

With West Asia disruptions and restricted Hormuz tanker traffic triggering an unprecedented supply shock, the agency expects global oil supply to fall by 3.9 million bpd in 2026, assuming Strait of Hormuz flows gradually resume from June.

The IEA also sees demand falling by 420 000 barrels a day this year, compared to a previous forecast of an 80,000 barrels a day drop.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil inventories fell for a fourth straight week in the week ended May 12, according to estimates released by the American Petroleum Institute.

Distillate inventories also declined while gasoline stocks rose during the week, the report showed. Official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due later in the day.

Progress toward a U.S.-Iran peace agreement remains limited, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying the U.S. doesn't have to "rush anything" on Iran and that he doesn't need Beijing's help to end the war.

Trump accused sections of the American media of "giving Iran false hope" through their coverage of the war and lashed out at what he called "Fake News" outlets.

A senior Pentagon official reportedly said on Tuesday that the United States' cost of war with Iran has climbed to nearly 29 billion dollars.