Oil Prices Edge Up on Declining U.S. Fuel Inventories

Investing.com – Oil prices climbed on Wednesday, lifted by a report of declining U.S. fuel inventories.

 for August delivery were trading at $74.60 a barrel at 1:01AM ET (05:01 GMT), up 0.62%. for September delivery, traded in London, were also up 0.49% at $78.14 per barrel.  

Meanwhile, for September delivery were unchanged at 505.6 yuan per barrel on Tuesday. 

The American Petroleum Institute (API) said in a report on Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories fell by 4.5 million barrels in the week to June 29 to 416.9 million barrels.

Gasoline and distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, were also down, the API said.

Trading activity is expected to be light however, as the U.S. markets are closed on Wednesday for the Independence Day holiday.

also remained in focus, as recent reports suggested that the U.S. government wants to shut Iran’s oil exports out of the market from November.

In response, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday it was “unwise to imagine that some day all producer countries will be able to export their surplus oil and Iran will not be able to export its oil.”

Higher output from Saudis Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, along with surging U.S. exports, will likely compensate for disruptions in Libya, Venezuela and Iran, said Roberto Friedlander, head of energy trading at Seaport Global Securities.

“We’re overbought at the top of the range here and WTI has to roll over towards $68 to $71. I’m a big believer that we are going to see $62 to $63 before we see $80,” he said.

On Tuesday, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) declared force majeure on loadings from Zueitina and Hariga ports on Monday, resulting in total production losses of 850,000 bpd due to the closure of eastern fields and ports. 

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