Oil fell after touching its highest since March at more than $40 a barrel on Wednesday, pressured by doubts that an early meeting of OPEC and its allies to extend existing output cuts will take place.

Brent crude dropped after Bloomberg reported that the meeting suggested for Thursday was unlikely unless problems around compliance were resolved. Reuters sources said that Saudi Arabia and Russia had a preliminary agreement to extend the cuts, but a meeting on Thursday rather than later in June might not happen.

Brent crude futures for August were down 13 cents, or 0.3%, at $39.44 by 1042 GMT, having earlier touched their highest since March 6 at $40.53. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for July fell 15 cents, or 0.4%, to $36.66.

Oil had been lifted earlier in the day by the American Petroleum Institute’s report on Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories fell by 483,000 barrels. The government’s official supply report is due later on Wednesday.

Source : Reuters