Oil steadies on U.S. crude inventories fall, demand hopes - Reuters

Oil steadies on U.S. crude inventories fall, demand hopes - Reuters:

Oil prices steadied on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a decline in crude inventories and on expectations for an uptick in demand next year on the back of progress in resolving the U.S.-China trade fight.

Brent futures LCOc1 gained 7 cents to settle at $66.17 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 ended the session down 1 cent at $60.93 a barrel per barrel.

U.S. crude fell by 1.1 million barrels in the week to Dec. 13 to 446.8 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel drop, the Energy Information Administration said.

Gasoline and distillate inventories grew last week by 2.5 million barrels to 237.3 million barrels, and 1.5 million barrels to 125.1 million barrels, respectively, EIA said.