Oil steadies as investors question reserve release | Reuters

Oil steadies as investors question reserve release | Reuters

Oil prices were largely steady on Wednesday as investors questioned the effectiveness of a U.S.-led release of oil from strategic reserves and turned their focus to how producers will respond.

Brent crude was up 17 cents, or 0.2%, at $82.48 a barrel by 1605 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $78.56.

The United States said it would release millions of barrels of oil from strategic reserves in coordination with China, India, South Korea, Japan and Britain to try to cool prices after OPEC+ ignored calls to pump more. read more

Japan will release "a few hundred thousand kilolitres" of oil from its national reserve, but timing has not been decided, its industry minister Koichi Hagiuda said on Wednesday.