Crude Oil Mixed In Asia With WTI Up After API Estimates

Investing.com – were mixed in Asia on Thursday after US industry estimates of weekly inventories showed unexpected refined product builds.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for February delivery rose 0.31% to $61.82 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, eased 0.04% to $67.92 a barrel.

The American Petroleum Institute said Wednesday that US crude oil stocks fell 4.992 million barrels last week, below an expected decline of 5.148 million barrels seen.

Gasoline inventories rose 1.827 million barrels compared to a gain of 2.182 million barrels seen. Distillate stocks gained 4.272 million barrels, compared to a build of 477,000 barrels expected.

The estimates will be followed by official data from the Energy Information Administration on Thursday in the US.

Overnight, crude oil prices settled higher on Wednesday, as ongoing anti-government protests in Iran raised the prospect of supply disruptions.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards reportedly deployed forces to three provinces in an effort to quell anti-government unrest, their commander said on Wednesday.

Civil unrest in Iran for the sixth-straight day raised the prospect of supply disruptions supporting an uptick in oil prices to two-and-a-half-year highs.

The prospect of fresh supply disruption offset the impact of pipeline restarts in both Libya and North Sea.

The 450,000 barrel per day (bpd) capacity Forties pipeline system in the North Sea returned to full operations on Dec. 30 after an unplanned shutdown while a Libyan pipeline gradually returned to production after an explosion last week disrupted operations.

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