WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil held firm above $70 a barrel on Wednesday amid signs of rising fuel demand in the United States. The upside was capped due to worries about travel curbs in Asia caused by the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.
Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $70.83 a barrel, after a 2.3 percent rally the previous day. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $68.45.
The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday said U.S. crude-oil inventories fell by 816,000 barrels and gasoline stocks dropped by 1.14 million barrels last week.
Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for Nymex oil futures, fell 413,000 barrels while distillate stocks rose 673,000 barrels.
The Energy Information Administration will release official weekly data later in the day, with analysts expecting crude stocks to decline by 600,000 barrels in the week ended Aug. 6.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly forecast that gasoline consumption in the country is expected to average 8.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2021, up from 8 million bpd in 2020.
The trend of rising employment and mobility is expected to continue into next year, leading to gasoline consumption averaging almost 9 million bpd in 2022.
Oil also found support after the U.S. Senate today passed a bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure package. The bill will now proceed to the House of Representatives.
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