(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil continued to drift lower Wednesday morning as traders await the official inventories data from the EIA.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for December delivery were down $0.72 to $81.62 a barrel, its three-week low. Yesterday, oil slipped to a 2-week low amid a firm U.S. dollar and waning risk appetite.
Tuesday after the markets close, the API said crude oil inventories unexpectedly fell by 7.7 million barrels and gasoline stocks dipped 1.7 million barrels last week. Analysts were expecting crude oil inventories to increase by 400,000 barrels and gasoline stocks to dip by 1.6 million barrels last week.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar remained firm near its 7-week high versus the euro, amid growing concerns about euro zone sovereign debt crisis, and hovering around its 2-week high against sterling. The buck bounced back near parity with the Swiss Franc and was near its one-month high versus the yen.
Today's focus will be on the official U.S. crude oil inventories data from the EIA, due out later during the session. Analysts expect crude oil inventories to fall by 100,000 barrels and gasoline stocks are seen dipping by 600,000 barrels last week.
Traders will also look to the data on inflation, housing starts and building permits due out from the U.S. later today. Economists expect a 0.3% increase in the headline consumer price index and a 0.1% increase in the core consumer price index. Housing starts are expected to decline to 600,000.
