RIYADH: Oil prices fell on Wednesday as an unexpected build in crude and fuel inventories in the US, the world鈥檚 biggest oil consumer, and economic uncertainty reignited demand worries.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures decreased by 68 cents, or 0.91 percent, to $74.44 a barrel at 09.15 a.m. Saudi time, while Brent crude futures fell by 66 cents, or 0.82 percent, at $79.44 a barrel.

Both contracts rose during trading on Monday and Tuesday, rebounding from a sharp selloff in the first week of 2023.

Russia鈥檚 oil output stable

Russia鈥檚 oil production rose 0.1 percent in the period from Jan. 1 to Jan. 9, to stand at about 10.9 million barrels a day, compared to December 2022, the daily Vedomosti said on Wednesday, citing two sources familiar with energy ministry data.

In 2022, Russian oil output rose 2 percent to 535 million tons, which equals 10.7 million bpd. 

Chevron鈥檚 first cargo of Venezuelan oil after license departs for the US

Chevron Corp鈥檚 first cargo of Venezuelan crude under a US license received in November has departed from a ship-to-ship transfer hub near Aruba to its Pascagoula, Mississippi refinery, according to shipping data seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Chevron received authorization last year from the US Treasury Department to revive oil output and expand operations in Venezuela as part of Washington鈥檚 efforts to encourage political dialogue toward a presidential election in the South American nation.

State-run oil company PDVSA allocated Chevron the first crude cargo this month, which was loaded at Venezuela鈥檚 Jose terminal last week, according to shipping data and documents.

Chevron鈥檚 tanker Caribbean Voyager this week transferred the 500,000-barrel cargo of Hamaca heavy crude it had loaded in Venezuela to Malta-flagged vessel Sealeo at a ship-to-ship hub near the Caribbean island of Aruba, Refinitiv Eikon tanker monitoring data showed.

The Sealeo is scheduled to arrive in Chevron鈥檚 Pascagoula refinery on Jan. 15, according to the Eikon data.

(With input from Reuters)