Follow-up – WAA
Oil prices rebounded on Wednesday after three days of declines after a report showed U.S. crude and fuel inventories fell last week, suggesting steady demand and as expectations for interest rate cuts improved.
Brent crude futures rose 21 cents to $84.87 a barrel by 00:55 GMT, after falling 1.3 percent in the previous session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 26 cents to $81.67 a barrel after falling 1.1 percent in the previous session, according to Reuters.
West Texas Intermediate crude has fallen 3% in the past three sessions amid concerns about weak global oil demand and signs that the Texas energy industry has emerged relatively unscathed from Hurricane Beryl after it hit the region on Monday. Brent has fallen 3.2% over the same period.
U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell last week while distillates rose, market sources said Tuesday, suggesting summer fuel demand is holding steady and leading to a recovery after days of declines, according to figures from the American Petroleum Institute.
The sources said that the institute’s figures showed that crude stocks fell by 1.923 million barrels in the week ending July 5.
Gasoline stocks fell by 2.954 million barrels, while distillate stocks rose by 2.342 million barrels.
Prices were also supported by comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that suggested the case for cutting interest rates had become stronger.
Lower interest rates would stimulate more economic growth and thus more oil consumption.