Oil prices rose after fall in U.S. crude inventories

Oil prices rose on Thursday after an industry report showed a decline in U.S. crude inventories that exceeded analyst expectations.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures added 26 cents, or 0.4%, at $59.07 a barrel by 0258 GMT. They closed down 0.6% on Wednesday after hitting their lowest since March 12 at $56.88.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were up 14 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $69.59 a barrel. They fell nearly 1% in the previous session after dropping as low as $68.08.

Crude prices have been supported by output cuts by OPEC and other major producers as well as falling supplies from Iran, but signs of China’s readiness to escalate a trade war with the United States have raised concerns about future demand.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.3 million barrels in the week to May 24 to 474.4 million barrels, data from industry group, the American Petroleum Institute, showed.

Weekly U.S. oil inventory data has been delayed by Monday’s Memorial Day holiday, with the official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) due on Thursday at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT)

Crude prices have risen by about 30 percent since the start of the year when OPEC+, which includes Russia, cut production to reduce a global glut.

 

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