Oil prices rose on Wednesday, heading for monthly and quarterly gains, after U.S. crude stockpiles fell for a sixth straight week and an OPEC report foresaw an undersupplied market this year.
The Brent crude contract for August, which expired on Wednesday, ended the session up 37 cents, or 0.5% at $75.13 a barrel. The September contract rose 34 cents to settle at $74.62 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) settled up 49 cents, or 0.7% at $73.47 a barrel.
Both benchmarks are just below highs last reached in 2018, and are set to record their seventh monthly gain in the past eight months. WTI rose more than 10% in June while Brent rose over 8%.
A Reuters poll showed that Brent was seen averaging $67.48 a barrel this year and WTI $64.54, both up from May’s poll.
U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week for the sixth straight week as refiners ramped up output in response to rising demand, the Energy Information Administration said. [EIA/S]
Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI, slid to their lowest since March 2020, EIA data showed.
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