Oil prices fell on Wednesday, following a rise in U.S. crude inventories and easing concerns over Libyan supplies, while focus shifted to potential U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.

Brent crude futures were down 59 cents, or 0.76%, at $77.90 a barrel by 0916 GMT, while U.S. crude futures were down 55 cents, or 0.75%, at $73.22.

The White House said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump still plans to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Saturday.

"Crude prices continue to follow the beat of Trump's tariff orchestra, with Canadian tariffs coming into effect on Saturday potentially pushing U.S. prices higher by then," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Canada supplies 3.9 million barrels of oil per day to the U.S. in 2023, roughly half of all imports for the year, while Mexico supplies 733,000 barrels per day, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

"Overall prices traded slightly lower after Libya said exports had resumed and the API reported a weekly increase in U.S. inventories. Additionally, OPEC+ is expected to stick with the production increases it announced in April," Hansen said.

U.S. crude and gasoline stocks rose last week, while distillate inventories fell, market sources said on Tuesday, citing figures from the American Petroleum Institute. [API/S]

The EIA, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, will release its weekly data at 1530 GMT on Wednesday. [EIA/S]

Supply concerns eased after Libya's National Oil Company said on Tuesday that export activity was normal following talks with protesters demanding a halt to loading at one of its main oil ports. (AL)

Source: Investing.com