Slump in Crude Oil Inventories and Production Disruptions Weighing on Crude Oil Prices

U.S. crude stockpiles fell less than expected just as supply disruption have provided a respite somewhat from concerns about omicron led supply and demand imbalances.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) trading at $75.94 down by 0.05% whereas Brent $79.02 up by 0.10%.

Earlier on Tuesday oil prices ended higher as traders weigh production disruptions across Ecuador, Libya and Nigeria, according to a Reuters report.

Private data by API shows U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels for the week ended December 24, compared to a draw of 3.7 million barrels reported by API in the previous week.

API data shows gasoline inventories rose by 319,000 barrels last week and distillate stocks decreased by 716,000 barrels.