HOUSTON, - Oil prices settled lower on Wednesday following a choppy session after the International Energy Agency agreed to speed up a release of oil stocks and prioritize diesel in a bid to curb record-high fuel prices as the Iran war squeezes global supplies.
Brent crude futures settled down 38 cents, or 0.38%, at $100.20 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled down $1.16, or 1.3%, to $88.28.
The IEA said completing previously announced releases as quickly as possible could bring around 100 million barrels to market, although analysts and some governments said the figure did not necessarily represent a fresh intervention of that size.
France will release 10 million barrels of diesel from its strategic stocks, Franceinfo radio reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.
"Europe is ground zero for this whole supply crunch ... and the releases address that and some of the heat off the need for WTI to a degree. This should reduce some of the pressure on US supplies," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital.