Oil prices rose $1 a barrel as data on lower US inventories and cuts in natural gas flows to Europe offset concerns about weaker demand and a looming US interest rate hike.
The American Petroleum Institute said crude inventories fell by 4 million barrels, four times the projected decline. Official data from the Energy Information Administration is expected this afternoon.
Brent was up 91 cents, or 0.9%, at $105.31, while WTI was up $1.16, or 1.2%, at $96.14.
“It looks more vulnerable from a technical perspective, and a big increase in US crude inventories today could lead to further pressures,” analysts said.
Oil has soared in 2022, hitting a 14-year high of $139 a barrel in March after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine heightened supply concerns and as demand rebounded from the pandemic.
Since then worries about an economic slowdown and rising interest rates have weighed in, despite supply disruptions in Libya and Nigeria and cuts in Russian gas flows to Europe.
Gas flows through Nord Stream 1 have been reduced to a fifth of their capacity, with Italy’s Eni stressing that it will accept lower volumes from Russia’s Gazprom.
Source: Capital
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