Tokyo — Oil prices were mixed on Wednesday, dampened by reports of rising US crude stockpiles but retaining some of the gains made in the previous session after oil cartel Opec said it expected higher demand for its crude next year. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was unchanged at $48.23 a barrel at around 3.59am GMT after rising earlier in the day. The contract rose 0.3% on Tuesday. International benchmark Brent crude was down 13c, or 0.2%, at $54.14 a barrel, having settled up 0.8% in the previous session. The difference between Brent and WTI, known as the spread, rose by 11c to $5.41 in favour of the global benchmark, as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma continued to affect demand for both crude and oil products in the US. "The market is still trying to assess … the positioning on Brent and the positioning on WTI and that’s reflected in the price spread," said Virendra Chauhan, oil analyst at Energy Aspects in Singapore. Wednesday’s drop came after a rise the day before when Opec forec...
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