Oil settles near $75, at multi-year highs | Reuters

Oil settles near $75, at multi-year highs | Reuters

Oil prices rose for a fifth day on Wednesday, closing in on $75 a barrel as U.S. refiners drew more crude inventories to ramp up activity and meet recovering demand.

Crude inventories fell by 7.4 million barrels in the week to June 11, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said, as refining utilization rose to 92.6%, highest since January 2020, before the pandemic hit.

The inventory draw was stronger than expected, driven as well by exports in another signal of improving demand worldwide.

Brent crude gained 40 cents, or 0.5%, to hit $74.39 a barrel, reaching its highest since April 2019, and running its gains to five straight days. U.S. crude rose 3 cents to $72.15, after reaching $72.99, highest since October 2018.

“With refinery runs over 16 million barrels per day and exports continuing to be robust, it is going to be difficult for inventories to avoid consistent draws as we push on to the peak of summer driving season,” said Matthew Smith, director of Commodity research at ClipperData.