Benchmark oil prices continued to rise on Thursday following a decline in US inventories for the second week in a row, Report informs via Interfax.
February futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange amounted to $74.59 per barrel, which is $0.33 (0.44%) higher than at the close of the previous session.
WTI oil futures for January in e-trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in the morning rose by $0.21 (0.3%) to $69.68 per barrel.
US oil inventories fell by 4.259 million barrels last week, the Energy Department said. Gasoline reserves increased by 0.408 million barrels, distillates - by 1.494 million barrels.
Analysts on average predicted a decline in oil inventories of just 0.65 million barrels, according to Trading Economics. At the same time, they expected an increase in gasoline reserves by 1.933 million barrels, and distillates by 0.623 million barrels.
S&P Global Commodity Insights respondents expected a decrease in oil inventories by 2.7 million barrels, as well as an increase in gasoline reserves by 3.4 million barrels and distillates by 1.6 million barrels.
Meanwhile, OPEC on Wednesday maintained its expectations for oil demand growth in 2023 by 2.46 million barrels per day, to 102.11 million b/d. In 2024, consumption is projected to increase by another 2.25 million b/d, to 104.36 million b/d, the organization said.