HOUSTON: Oil prices roses on Wednesday after a jump in U.S. refining activity last week prompted a bigger draw than expected from gasoline and crude inventories.
Brent futures were up 66 cents, or 0.78%, at $85.32 a barrel at 11:18 a.m. EDT (1519 GMT), after falling 1.3% the previous session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 86 cents, or 1.06%, to $82.27 a barrel, after falling 1.1% the previous session.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.4 million barrels to 445.1 million barrels in the week ended July 5, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said, far exceeding analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel draw.
Gasoline stocks fell by 2 million barrels to 229.7 million barrels, much bigger than the 600,000-barrel draw analysts expected during U.S. Fourth of July holiday week.
“More than anything the EIA data seems to be the driving force right now for higher prices,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group.
OPEC maintained its 2024 and 2025 global oil demand growth forecasts at 2.25 million barrels per day (bpd) and 1.85 million bpd, respectively, it said in a monthly report.
Oil prices slip after US crude hub escapes serious storm damage
“Expected strong mobility and air travel in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer driving/holiday season is anticipated to bolster demand for transportation fuels and drive growth in the United States,” OPEC said in the report.
Both crude futures contracts had ended the previous three sessions lower on signs that the Texas energy industry came off relatively unscathed from Hurricane Beryl.
Oil and gas companies had restarted some operations on Tuesday, and ports along the Texas Gulf Coast, which had shut in ahead of the hurricane, were reopening with some restrictions.
Refineries and offshore production facilities saw limited damage from the storm and have largely returned to normal operations, easing concerns of a supply disruption.
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