An oil pumpjack is pictured in the Permian Basin in the Loco Hills regions, New Mexico, on April 6, 2023.

Liz Hampton | Reuters

Crude oil futures fell for a third session Wednesday, extending this week’s losing streak as prices soften ahead of a crucial OPEC meeting in June.

U.S. crude oil and global benchmark Brent are down more than 2% for the week.

Here are Wednesday’s closing energy prices:

  • West Texas Intermediate July contract: $77.57 a barrel, down $1.09, or 1.39%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has gained 8.2%.
  • Brent July contract: $81.90 a barrel, down 98 cents, or 1.18%. Year to date, the global benchmark is up 6.3%.
  • RBOB Gasoline June contract: $2.47 a gallon, down 1.68%. Year to date, gasoline futures are up 17.37%.
  • Natural Gas June contract: $2.84 per thousand cubic feet, up 6.4%. Year to date, gas is up about 13.05%.

U.S. commercial crude oil stockpiles had a surprise build of 1.8 million barrels last week, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected stockpiles to fall by 2.5 million barrels.

Gasoline stockpiles fell by 910,000 barrels, higher than the expected raw of 729,000 barrels. The rate at which refineries process crude into products stood at 91.7%, up 1.3%.

Oil prices are drifting lower in the absence of major developments to guide the market as traders have moved on from geopolitical tensions.

OPEC and its allies, led by Russia, will hold a crucial meeting to review production policy next weekend. A coalition of nations in the broader OPEC+ grouping are cutting 2.2 million barrels per day, which has supported oil prices this year. The group is likely to extend those production cuts as prices soften, according to analysts.

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