Oil prices held steady on Wednesday despite signs of improving demand and a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, as worries over the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic capped gains.

Brent crude futures for July delivery LCoc1 were up 10 cents, or 0.3%, at $34.75 per barrel at 06:26 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for July CLc1 were down 2 cents at $31.94 a barrel after closing up 1% in the previous session.

The June contract expired on Tuesday at $32.50 a barrel, up 2.1%, as the WTI futures market avoided the chaos of last month's May expiry, when prices sank below zero.

Source : Reuters