Basra's crudes drop on Wednesday

Shafaq News/ The prices of the Basra crude to Asian customers slightly rose on Tuesday despite a decreased appetite for oil in the global market.

Basra's intermediate and heavy crudes dropped $0.23 to settle at $79.81 and $74.06, respectively, on Wednesday .

Oil prices extended losses on Wednesday on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to indicate it will continue to raise interest rates in comments due out later, raising concerns of lower global economic growth and fuel demand.

Brent crude futures for April delivery fell by 23 cents to $82.82 a barrel by 0420 GMT after recording a 1.2% decline on Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for April declined 21 cents to $76.15 a barrel. The March WTI contract expired on Tuesday down 18 cents.

The U.S. Fed will release the minutes of its latest meeting on Wednesday, which will give traders a glimpse of how high officials are projecting interest rates will go after recent data showed stronger-than-expected U.S. employment and consumer prices.