At 1018 GMT, the May Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was at $106.03 down 20 cents, or 0.2%. Nymex light, sweet crude for May delivery was down 17 cents, or 0.2%, at $94.03 a barrel.
Today's highlight, the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting due to be released at 1800 GMT, are likely to be supportive of oil prices, according to Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.
"The minutes are...probably going to confirm the continuing support for asset purchasing," he said, with a likely further rally in crude markets as a result. "I don't think rhetoric towards the cessation of asset purchasing will increase," Mr. Hansen said.
The FOMC minutes will indicate the Fed's interpretation of last week's "shockingly weak" nonfarm payroll figure, according to Capital Spreads. The data showed that 88,000 new jobs had been created in the previous month, well below expectations and the lowest rise in nine months.
While this would suggest that central bank intervention is the most important driving force in the market, analysts at Deutsche Bank suggest that fundamentals -- rather than fiscal policy decisions -- are gaining strength as a driver of commodities.
"Cross asset correlations between equities, credit, FX and commodities have subsided during 2013," they wrote in a note. Deutsche's analysts suggest that this indicates a move in commodity markets back towards "physical fundamentals such as demand, supply and inventory, which in most cases is a surplus."
Such a move would suggest a likely price drop rather than more gains.
A change in the market structure over the last days saw the second month of ICE Brent trading higher than the May contract. The contracts are now trading within a few cents of one another, suggesting a lack of clarity on whether buyers think the price is likely to rise or fall in the next two months.
Also Wednesday the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries releases its monthly report for April.
The ICE's gasoil contract for April delivery was up $9.50, or 1.1%, at $888.00 per metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for May delivery was down 361 points, at $2.9063 per gallon.
Write to cassie.werber@dowjones.com
