Oil rose after a US government report showed inventories across the country fell the most in two months, beating market expectations.
Prices:
- WTI for August delivery rose $1.86 to settle at $69.56 a barrel
- Brent for August settlement rose $1.77 to settle at $74.03 a barrel.
U.S. crude stockpiles fell 9.6 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. In another bullish data point, gasoline demand rose to the highest since December 2021 at a four-week average.
“Despite a tight physical market, oil had been dragged down by sentiment,” said Matt Sallee, portfolio manager at Tortoise. “This week, we’re getting a logical response to physical inventories. The market could be waking up to the fact that the market is pretty tight.”
While some traders expect increased summer demand to revive oil prices, WTI is on track for its first consecutive quarterly decline since 2019, due to a slow economic recovery in China and the aggressive interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve. . Resilient Russian exports have added to the pressures. Prices have been largely flat since early May, but have often moved quickly within that range.
