Oil fell to around $68 a barrel on Tuesday in a choppy session, pressured as concerns faded of a supply disruption in Saudi Arabia, which countered a pause in the dollar's rally and prospects for tighter supply due to OPEC+ output curbs.
3 Min Read
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday on an upbeat forecast for global economic recovery and as U.S. gasoline inventories plummeted, but prices were limited due to a surge in crude oil inventories in the aftermath of last month’s Texas winter storm.
FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind the chimneys of the Total Grandpuits oil refinery, southeast of Paris, France, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
Brent crude settled at $67.90 a barrel, gaining 38 cents, or 0.6%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $64.44 a barrel, rising 43 cents, or 0.7%.
U.S. gasoline stocks dropped by 11.9 million barrels last week and distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, fell 5.5 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said, sharper than analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.5 million-barrel drop each. [EIA/S]
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has yet to demonstrate a curb in supply as large as its promised voluntary production cut, according to two companies that track oil flows, a view dismissed by Riyadh which says it is reliable.
Oil slips for third session before U.S. inventories EIA data
By Florence Tan
Reuters
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil fell for a third straight session on Wednesday as investors took profits while looking ahead to U.S. inventories data due later in the day for pointers on where prices will head next.
Brent crude for May dropped 56 cents, or 0.8%, to $66.96 a barrel by 0414 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for April was at $63.56 a barrel, down 45 cents, or 0.7%.
Prices gained support last week from the OPEC+ decision to largely maintain production cuts in April. They then initially jumped on Monday, with Brent rising above $70 a barrel, after attacks by Yemeni Houthis on Saudi s oil heartland, before settling back as the alarm subsided.