Forexpros - Crude oil futures were lower on Wednesday, as traders looked ahead to the weekly report on oil stockpiles from the U.S. Energy Information Administration later in the day. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September traded at USD93.15 a barrel during European morning trade, down 0.54%. Overnight, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said U.S. crude stocks fell by 5.35 million barrels last week, far more than the expected decline of 0.54 million barrels. Crude oil rallied to a three-month high on Tuesday, as gains in European equities markets and concerns over potential supply threats in the Middle East supported prices. Risk appetite remained supported by expectations that the European Central Bank will soon take steps to help lower Spanish and Italian borrowing costs after the bank indicated last week that it may restart its bond buying program. In the U.S, comments by Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren on Wednesday kept alive speculation over the possibility for more easing by the U.S. central bank. Rosengren said the Fed should launch another round of quantitative easing of whatever size and duration was necessary to get the economy back on its feet. On the London based ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for September delivery were down 0.47% to trade at USD111.47 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD18.32.

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