WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, continuing to benefit from yesterday's report showing a huge decline in crude oil stockpiles in the week ended June 23.
Concerns about rising interest rates and economic slowdown limited the uptick in oil prices.
Investors grew uneasy over the impact of higher interest rates on growth after global central bankers reaffirmed their resolve to fight inflation, warning rates may need to rise further.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.30 or about 0.4% at $69.86 a barrel.
Brent crude futures gained $0.31 or about 0.4% to $74.34 a barrel.
Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed U.S. crude inventories dropped by 9.603 million barrels last week, more than 5 times the expected drop.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday that the US central bank would deliver more interest rates hikes by the end of the year in its prolonged fight against high inflation.
'Inflation pressures continue to run high, and the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go,' Powell said in a speech at the Banco de Espana conference on financial stability in Madrid, Spain.
Powell had said at the ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal on Wednesday that there was 'more restriction coming' and successive rate rises were not off the table.
Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX