Oil holds near 11-week high as Russia and U.S. show tighter supply
BNN Bloomberg
Oil held near the highest closing level since January as slowing flows from Russia, production cuts by OPEC+ and falling US inventories pointed to a tightening market.
West Texas Intermediate traded above US$81 a barrel after rallying by 2.2 per cent on Tuesday. Russian shipments slid below 3 million barrels a day for the first time in eight weeks, after Moscow vowed to reduce production in retaliation for international sanctions, tanker-tracking data show.
In the US, crude stockpiles at the national storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell by 1.4 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with data from the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute. If confirmed by government figures later on Wednesday, that would be a sixth consecutive drawdown.
Crude has rebounded from a 15-month low seen in March after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies cut output, U.S. crude holdings declined, and traders stuck to the view that Chinese demand will pick up. In the Middle East, pipeline flows from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region remain halted.
