WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil futures settled higher on Wednesday as data showing a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended July 5th, and OPEC's strong oil demand forecast pushed up prices.
OPEC's forecast for oil demand this year contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. The OPEC expects oil demand to rise by 2.2 million barrels per day this year, compared to the previous year.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.69 at $82.10 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were up $0.62 or about 0.73% at $85.28 a barrel a little while ago.
Data from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude oil inventories fell by 3.4 million barrels last week, after plunging by 12.2 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude inventories to drop by 3 million barrels last week.
At 445.1 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 said gasoline inventories also decreased by 2.0 million barrels last week and are 1% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Meanwhile, the report said distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, surged by 4.9 million barrels last week but are about 8% below the five-year average for this time of year.
British oil & gas giant BP Plc said in its annual Energy Outlook that global oil demand will peak to around 102 million barrels per day next year.
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