WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil futures slipped on Friday, but still posted their fourth straight weekly gain amid optimism about the outlook for demand on the back of recent data showing a sharp drop in inventories.
There are concerns the rain and wind impacts of Hurricane Beryl could disrupt Mexico's offshore oil production, and also hurt infrastructure and tighten supply.
A recent report from the American Automobile Association forecast 5.2% increase in trips during U.S. Independence Day holiday, with car travel up 4.8% from last year.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down by $0.72 or 0.86% at $83.16 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained about 2% in the week.
Brent crude futures dropped to $86.54 a barrel, down $0.89 or about 1.02% from the previous close.
Recent data by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed U.S. crude inventories plunged by 12.2 million barrels last week, after climbing by 3.6 million barrels a week earlier. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to edge down by 0.2 million barrels.
At 448.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.
The EIA data also said gasoline inventories decreased by 2.2 million barrels last week and are 1% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also fell by 1.5 million barrels last week and are about 10% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Concerns about supplies amid likely escalation in geopolitical tensions contributed as well to the rise in oil prices in recent sessions.
Lebanon's Hezbollah said it has launched more than 200 rockets and drones targeting Israeli military positions in response to a strike that killed a senior commander of the armed group.
A report from Baker Hughes said the oil and gas rig count in the U.S. rose by four to 585 this week. While oil rigs were unchanged at 479 this week, gas rigs rose by four. Despite this week's rig increase, Baker Hughes said the total count was still down 95 rigs, or 14%, below this time last year.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
