Oil steady as investors question reserve release effect | Reuters

Oil steady as investors question reserve release effect | Reuters

Oil prices were 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 futures were down 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $82.04 a barrel at 1000 GMT, after rising 3.3% on Tuesday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 23 cents, or 0.2%, to $78.27 a barrel, following a 2.3% gain in the previous day.

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