Crude oil on both sides of the Atlantic was flat Wednesday, awaiting any news from the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee later in the day.
Brent crude for February delivery was up 5 cents, or 0.05%, to $108.48 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures were up 4 cents a barrel, or 0.04%, at $97.23 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Today the market will focus on the FOMC's December policy statement where any dollar bullish sentiment would add to Brent's downside," wrote Andrey Kryuchenkov of VTB Capital in a note to clients.
The bank expects London's benchmark to drop further, perhaps to as low as $105 a barrel.
"Dated Brent premiums remain depressed, while the sentiment-driven futures rebound on Monday quickly dissipated with no fresh news from Libya and the output deficit from the North African producers has been priced in over the past three months," Mr. Kryuchenkov said.
Recently, the ICE's gasoil contract for January delivery was up $2.00 at $921.50 a metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for January delivery was up 168 points at $2.6640 a gallon.
