- West Texas Intermediate fell over 1% Wednesday morning as the coronavirus spread in top oil-consuming countries outweighed another predicted fall in oil inventories
- Virus concerns also offset Mideast geopolitical concerns
- According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), crude oil inventories in the US fell by 879 MBbl for the week ended July 30. Government data is due out at 9:30 AM CST
- Geopolitical tensions recently flared in the Persian Gulf, where many of the world’s oil exports are transported
- The British navy said Wednesday that a suspected hijacking of a vessel near Iran has ended (Bloomberg)
- A Panama-flagged Asphalt Princess was briefly boarded by armed men on Tuesday when it was in the Persian Gulf, according to a Gulf government official
- Multiple countries blamed Iran for the hijacking to which Tehran denies
- Both yesterday's hijacking and last week’s drone attack, also blamed on Iran, on an Israeli-operated vessel, come as Iran is trying to reenter the 2015 nuclear accords