WTI: A sluggish U.S. dollar and a declining inventory of crude oil weigh on purchasers above $69.00

WTI crude oil gains offers to reduce intraday losses, the first in three sessions, during Wednesday's sluggish early trading. However, the price of black gold fell during the initial hours following the release of negative inventory data, the US Dollar's corrective rebound, and price-negative industry news. However, the dollar's inability to hold its ground and cautious optimism in the market appear to aid the energy benchmark as it posts modest losses near $69.30 at the latest.

Tuesday, the private Oil inventory data provider American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that the Weekly Oil Stock increased by 3,262 million barrels for the week ending March 17, compared to the previous week's increase of 1,155 million barrels.

In addition to the higher inventory levels, the US Dollar's corrective recovery, supported by an initial revival in US Treasury bond yields, favored WTI crude oil sellers following a two-day uptrend.

In addition, a lack of encouraging news from China President Xi Jinping's meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, despite their criticism of Western assistance to Ukraine, appears to exert downward pressure on the Oil price.

In addition, optimistic news from Reuters regarding the US oil refining industry encourages WTI bears. "The US oil refining industry expects to maintain a competitive advantage in exporting fuel to Latin America, despite Brazil's increased imports of Russian diesel," reported Reuters, citing an official from a leading US refining lobby.

WTI traders are primarily challenged by the market's indecision preceding the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) monetary policy meeting. Wednesday will see the release of weekly Crude Oil inventory data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), which is anticipated to be -1.448M compared to the prior week's 1.55M.