Oil prices edged higher in early trade on Wednesday after industry data showed US crude stockpiles fell sharply from the previous week, fueled by EU sanctions and a G7 price cap on Russian oil. further highlights supply tightness.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $88.61 a barrel by 0101 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 35 cents, or 0.4%, to $81.30 a barrel.
Both benchmark contracts rose nearly 1% in the previous session as the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq and Algeria rose nearly 1% in the previous session after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister commented that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ) and allies, together called OPEC+, were not considering raising oil production. OPEC+’s next meeting will be on December 4 to review production.
Analysts said uncertainty over how Russia would respond to plans by the Group of Seven (G7) nations to cap Russian oil prices further supported the market.
A senior US Treasury official said on Tuesday that the price cap, not yet announced but due on December 5, will probably be adjusted a few times a year.
“Traders will be watching Russia’s exports closely and will see how much they can reduce the country’s overseas sales in retaliation,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said in a note to clients. can accelerate.”
US crude inventories fell by about 4.8 million barrels, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed, as prices jumped on Wednesday for the week ending Nov. 18.
Analysts polled by Reuters on average had expected crude inventories to decline by 1.1 million barrels.
However, on a bearish note, API data showed distillate stocks, which include heating oil and jet fuel, rose by about 1.1 million barrels compared to analysts’ expectations for a decline of 600,000 barrels.
