Crude oil prices held mostly steady on Wednesday, experiencing less than a 1% drop as traders remained unsure ahead of Friday’s meeting in Alaska between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The two intend to talk about ending the war in Ukraine. The steady price levels came after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. oil inventories rose by 1.5 million barrels in the week to August 8.
West Texas Intermediate crude finished down 42 cents or 0.66% to $62.75 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude ended the day down 38 cents or 0.57% and finished at $65.74 per barrel.
Natural gas closed at $2.819 per MMBtu with a gain of $0..011 or 0.39%.
Wednesday turned out to be a strong trading day for Oklahoma energy stocks as only 4-5 firms finished with losses. Stardust Power rose more than 9% and Empire Petroleum finished up nearly 3%.