Oil Rises as US Inventories Fall 8.3 Millions, Reflecting Higher Demand in the Market

Oil prices rose in the morning session of Asia trading hours on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, after the U.S. oil inventories reportedly fell by 8.3 million barrels in the past week as demand grew.

 

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Futures rose $0.23/bbl or 0.57% to $40.52/bbl. International benchmark Brent Crude Futures increased $0.25/bbl or 0.58% to $43.15/bbl.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a higher-than-expected oil consumption in the past week, resulting in a drop of 8.3 million barrels in the U.S. crude inventories for the past week and beating the expectation of 2 million barrels drop.

Meanwhile, OPEC and its allies will convene a meeting today to decide whether to extend output cuts of 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) that end in July or ease them to 7.7 million bpd.