WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices are rising sharply on Friday, recovering from near 18-month lows, despite a report from the American Petroleum Institute showing a jump in U.S. crude inventories.
According to the report from American Petroleum Institute, crude inventories in the U.S. was up 6.9 million barrels in the week ended December 21, due to higher refinery output.
The official inventory data from U.S. Energy Information Administration is due later this morning.
Crude oil futures for February are up $0.91, or 2.04%, at $45.52 a barrel. On Thursday, crude oil futures ended down $1.61, or 3.5%. at $44.61 a barrel, after having spurted 8.6% a session earlier.
Meanwhile, according to reports, major oil buyers in Asia imported much less crude oil from Iran after U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil came into force early November.
The data said imports of Iranian crude dropped to their lowest level since 2013. According to reports, imports by China, India, Japan and South Korea dropped by 12.7% in November, compared to imports in November 2017.
However, following the U.S. announcing waivers and allowing eight big oil importers, including India and China to continue buying Iranian oil, imports from Iran may have significantly increased in December.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX