The July WTI crude oil futures contract in NYMEX ACCESS trade at 11:15 hours Tokyo time on Wednesday was at $49.00 per barrel (bbl), down 10cts from the closing price in New York on Tuesday while the August Brent contract in ICE After Hours Trading was at $49.74/bbl, down 15cts. Ahead of the general assembly of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Takayuki Nogami, a chief economist at Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) pointed out that players were taking a wait-and-see stance. "There is also a mix of bullish and bearish factors keeping players to the sidelines," Nogami said referring to an expected drop in US oil production and increased production in Canada. Market players will be focused on the next weekly US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data set due out in the US on Wednesday to see where US crude oil production sits while receding wild fires in Canada prompt more oil sands producers in that country to resume operations. Meanwhile, the Nikkei Stock Average lost 103.34 points in Wednesday morning trade decreasing to 17,131.64 as the dollar fell to 110.78 to the yen.

RECX-22 index for Wednesday was at 73.69 points, up 0.47 points from Tuesday with increases for domestic oil product indices.