Oil prices turned to decline on Wednesday after rising at the end of the previous session.

The market is waiting for the data of the American Petroleum Institute (API) on inventories in the United States, as well as the speech of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System (Fed) Jerome Powell in the Senate Banking Committee. His statements are important in assessing the outlook for the U.S. economy. Concerns that the Fed’s rapid tightening of policy will lead to a recession in the U.S., as well as lower demand for oil, are among the main factors holding back the rise of the oil market.

The cost of August futures for the Brent grade on the London-based ICE Futures exchange by 8:20 Moscow time on Wednesday is $111.27 per barrel, down $3.38 (2.95%) from the previous session’s closing price. At the end of trading on Tuesday, these contracts rose by $0.52 (0.5%) to $114.65 per barrel.

The price of WTI crude oil futures for August at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is at this time $105.94 per barrel, which is $3.58 (3.27%) lower than the final value of the previous session. On Tuesday, the cost of these contracts increased by $1.53 (1.4%) to $109.52 per barrel.

Traders are also focused on the attempts of the U.S. authorities to stop the rise in gasoline prices.