SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices rose on Wednesday after an industry report showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week.
Brent crude was up 28 cents to $75.04 a barrel by 0651 GMT, while U.S. crude was up 44 cents at $73.42 per barrel.
While the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus is taking hold in many countries, prompting new lockdowns or movement restrictions from Australia to Portugal, hopes of a broader recovery in demand for fuel remained intact.
“Futures have been trading on a one-way ripper to the upside ever since the November 2 headline declaring a COVID-19 vaccine had been developed,” Reuters quoted director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities Bob Yawger as saying.
Crude stocks in the United States were down by 8.2 million barrels, American Petroleum Institute date showed, according to two sources who told Reuters.
But hopes for a broad recovery received a boost from OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo who said on Tuesday that demand is expected to rise by 6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2021, with 5 million bpd of that coming in the second half of the year.
He laid out the forecast during a meeting of the Joint Technical Committee of OPEC+, an alliance made up of OPEC members along with Russia and other producers, Reuters reported.
