WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday after data showing an unexpected sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories outweighed concerns about weak oil demand from China.
A weak dollar amid rising optimism about interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve contributed as well to the jump in oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up $2.09 or about 2.6% at $82.85 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were up $1.33 or about 1.6% at $85.08 a barrel a little while ago.
Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude oil inventories slid by 4.9 million barrels in the week ended July 12th, after falling by 3.4 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to rise by 0.8 million barrels.
At 440.2 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.
Meanwhile, the report said gasoline inventories increased by 3.3 million barrels last week and are slightly above the five-year average for this time of year.
Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also climbed by 3.5 million barrels week but remain about 7% below the five-year average for this time of year.
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