Crude-oil prices settled solidly higher Thursday, in thin postholiday action, as a weekly inventory report indicated a bigger-than-expected decline in stockpiles for oil.
American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies fell by 7.9 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 20, according to sources. That was more than analysts’ consensus expectations for a draw of draw of 1.83 million barrels, according to Reuters.
The weekly inventory report also showed a 2.2 million barrel decline in key U.S. oil delivery hub Cushing, Okla.
The API data came after that report showed a major buildup in stockpiles last week and the current report could provide a lift for crude prices which have been steadily climbing lately, wrote Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group.
“It appears that the API wanted to make up for the lost time and this reflects growing global oil demand,” he wrote in a Thursday research report.
West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery US:CLF20, the U.S. benchmark grade, added 57 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $61.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after rising 1% on Tuesday. The settlement marked the highest for the benchmark since Sept. 16, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
February Brent crude BRNG20, +0.32% rose 72 cents, or 1.1%, to finish at $67.92 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, following a 1.2% gain in the prior session. The international benchmark also finished at a more than three-month high.
Trading was mostly subdued, with a number of markets remaining closed for the holidays. Commodity markets were closed on Wednesday for the Christmas holiday period and that closure has delayed the release of U.S. government data from the Energy Information Administration on crude stocks and those for natural gas, which will both be distributed on Friday.
Trading for crude and its byproducts have been mostly influenced by positive signs from China and the U.S. on the trade front. Chinese officials on Wednesday confirmed that they were close to signing a phase one trade deal, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he and China’s President Xi Jinping would have a signing ceremony for the partial trade pact.
The 18-month old trade war between the world’s largest economies has hit global economic growth and demand for oil, weighing on crude prices for most of the year.
In other energy trade, February gasoline futures RBF20, +0.14% added 2.65 cents, or 1.5%, to end at $1.7539 a gallon, while February heating oil HOF20, +0.04% increased by 1.62 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $2.0535 a gallon.
Meanwhile, January natural gas NGF20, -6.63% added 12.2 cents, or 5.6%, to end at $2.2940 per million British thermal units, marking its largest one-day gain since Oct. 29, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
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