Oil futures rose nearly 1.7 percent on Wednesday after the American Petroleum Institute recorded a 695,000 barrel decline in U.S. inventories. Just the day before, futures slid 2.4 percent.
The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of oil crudes.
Bloomberg reports:
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see prices rising, as most of the demand-side risks should be priced in and more risks on the supply side materialize,” said Eugen Weinberg, the Frankfurt- based head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG. “We’re likely to see tightening and lower spare capacities in the second half.”
Brent crude for August climbed around 1.3 percent to $99.23 per barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange, while oil for the month of August rose to $85.31 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Prices have declined 14 percent overall this year.
According to the American Petroleum Institute, gasoline inventories in the U.S. increased by 2.5 million barrels over the past week.
Distillate supplies including diesel and heating oil fell by 717,000 barrels after a projected 625,000 barrels increase.
Crude prices in general have been very unstable lately, with a sharp drop on Tuesday following the close of Norway’s energy strike.
