Crude oil and gasoline prices closed lower on Wednesday, influenced by a bearish EIA inventory report and a stronger dollar index. Geopolitical risks in Venezuela, Nigeria, and Russia are limiting crude price losses. Chinese crude demand is increasing, with imports set to rise by 10% to a record 12.2 million bpd. OPEC+ is expected to maintain plans to pause further supply hikes.

Oil prices also received support from the US launching strikes on ISIS targets in Nigeria and the US blockade of sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuelan oil shipments. Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and tankers have limited Russia’s oil exports. OPEC+ plans to pause production increases in Q1-2026 due to an emerging global oil surplus.

The EIA report showed a bearish trend as gasoline and distillate supplies rose more than expected. However, crude inventories unexpectedly fell. US oil rigs increased by 3 to 412, recovering from a recent low. US crude oil production remained steady at 13.827 million bpd. US crude inventories are below the seasonal average, while gasoline and distillate inventories are above and below the average, respectively.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Crude Prices Fall on Abundant Supplies and Dollar Strength