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Oil rises on US fuel demand, extends rally

Oil prices rose about 1% on Wednesday, extending gains for a third session, after U.S. government data showed that fuel demand climbed to its highest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brent crude settled $1.20, or 1.7%, higher at $72.25 per barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude advanced 82 cents, or 1.2%, to $68.36 per barrel.

The four-week average for U.S. total product supplied, a proxy for fuel demand, soared to nearly 21 million barrels per day, its highest since March 2020, when governments first began to widely impose pandemic-related restrictions, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 3 million barrels in the last week to 432.6 million barrels, the EIA said, about 1% higher than during the same time in 2019, before the pandemic. Refiners have ramped up production to 92.4% of operable capacity, the highest since late June.

Gasoline stocks fell by 2.2 million barrels in the week to 225.92 million barrels, EIA said.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 600,000 barrels in the week to 138.46 million barrels.

Reference: CNBC