Oil edges up on U.S. stocks fall, Mideast tensions, trade talk signs
By Trend
Oil prices nudged higher on Wednesday on rising tensions over Iran, a sharp fall in U.S. crude stocks and positive signs on Sino-U.S. talks, although worries about weak demand kept a cap on gains, reports Trend referring to Reuters.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 21 cents, or 0.3%, at $64.04 a barrel by 0719 GMT, after rising nearly 1% on Tuesday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was up 28 cents, or 0.5%, at $57.05 a barrel, having risen about 1% in the previous session.
U.S. crude stocks fell more than expected in the week to July 19, declining by 11 million barrels to 449 million, the trade group American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday.
That compared with analysts’ expectations of a decrease of 4 million barrels.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 448,000 barrels, although gasoline stocks rose by 4.4 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 730,000-barrel decline.
The U.S. government’s official figures are due Wednesday morning.
(GRAPHIC: U.S. crude inventories, weekly changes since 2017 - tmsnrt.rs/2XlX17b)
The potential for renewed Sino-U.S. trade talks also helped bolster prices, analysts said.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday called it a good sign that top U.S. officials would be traveling to China to discuss reviving stalled trade talks.
“The possible nearing of a trade deal provided a strong bid for risky assets, lifting oil to its third consecutive gain,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York, said in a note.