West Texas Intermediate crude remained steady on Wednesday as concerns over the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping chokepoint, overshadowed a reported rise in US crude inventories. The market kept its attention on the risk that disruption in the waterway could threaten global supply, even though US stockpile data pointed to looser near-term conditions. The piece says that while inventory builds usually weigh on prices by signaling weaker demand or higher supply, traders are giving greater weight to Middle East supply security because any interruption in Hormuz could rapidly remove large volumes from the market. It adds that consumers and businesses remain exposed to energy cost uncertainty, and that traders should watch regional military or tanker-related developments, weekly EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) inventory data, and OPEC+ production decisions.