WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices are up sharply Thursday morning, continuing to benefit from Wednesday's official data that showed crude inventories in the U.S. fell for a sixth straight week, and on optimism about outlook for energy demand.
The OPEC+ group of oil producers are set to announce their decision with regard to increasing output. It is expected that the group will likely decide to add about 2 million barrels per day from August.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August are up $1.70 or 2.31% at 75.17 a barrel.
Despite concerns that oil demand could falter in the near term due to the surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus cases and travel curbs in several countries, analysts expect demand to pick up during the later part of the year.
Data from Energy Information Administration showed crude inventories in the U.S. dropped by 6.7 million barrels in the week ended June 25, much higher than an expected drop of 4.7 million barrels.
Gasoline stockpiles were up by 1.5 million barrels last week, as against expectations for a draw of 886,000 barrels. Meanwhile, distillate stockpiles fell by 869,000 barrels in the week, against forecast for an increase of 486,000 barrels.
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