SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday, after rising more than 2% the previous day, rebounding from recent losses on signs of rising fuel demand in the United States despite a surge in coronavirus cases.
Brent crude futures inched up 34 cents to $70.97 a barrel at 0639 GMT, following a 2.3% gain from Tuesday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 27 cents to $68.56 per barrel, adding to a 2.7% jump the previous day.
Industry data showed U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories fell last week, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its forecast for fuel demand in 2021 and said consumption in May through July was higher than expected.
“Oil prices rose on hopes that oil demand growth will outpace supply growth despite the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19,” Reuters quoted Commonwealth Bank commodity analyst Vivek Dhar as saying.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. crude stocks fell by 816,000 barrels and gasoline stocks dropped by 1.1 million barrels in the week ended August 6, two market sources told Reuters.
Weekly figures from the EIA are due on Wednesday.
The EIA’s monthly report showed that the need for supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will exceed OPEC supply by 1 million barrels per day in the third quarter and by 300,000 bpd in the fourth quarter of 2021, Reuters cited CBA’s Dhar as saying.
