Oil Futures Settle Sharply Higher On Inventory Drop, Supply Disruptions Concerns
(RTTNews) - Oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday as crude inventories in the U.S. dropped in the week ended January 10th. Possibility of supply disruptions due to new sanctions by the U.S. on Russia contributed as well to the rise in oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed higher by $2.54 or about 3.3% at $80.04 a barrel.
Brent crude futures settled at $82.03 a barrel, gaining $2.11 or about 2.65%.
Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude oil inventories in the U.S. dropped by 2 million barrels last week, after falling by 1 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to decrease by 1.6 million barrels.
At 412.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.
Meanwhile, the report said gasoline inventories surged by 5.9 million barrels last week and are only slightly below the five-year average for this time of year.
Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also jumped by 3.1 million barrels last week but are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA.
In its monthly oil market report, the IEA maintained its supply forecasts for both Russia and Iran, citing an uncertain outlook regarding the full impact of these sanctions.
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