Oil prices slipped for a fourth day on Wednesday on worries about rocky demand in Europe, even as hopes of a recovery in US refinery activity were boosted by industry data that showed US crude stockpiles unexpectedly fell last week.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dipped 5 cents to $64.75 a barrel at 0229 GMT, after climbing as much as 28 cents in early trade.
Brent crude futures fell 10 cents, or 0.2%, to $68.29 a barrel, after initially gaining as much as 23 cents.
The market has been drifting lower over the past few days amid concerns about stalled vaccine rollouts slowing recovery in fuel demand.
“Concerns that demand could fall further have been rising as Europe’s health ministers suspend the rollout of AstraZeneca vaccine amid health concerns,” ANZ Research said in a note.
