Tokyo — Oil rose about 2% on Wednesday after industry data showed crude inventories in the US fell sharply, but trading was choppy as the outcome of the US presidential election remained unclear.
“People with active positions in the market are trading very, very nimbly because the [election] backdrop is a little uncertain,” said Virendra Chauhan, oil analyst at Energy Aspects in Singapore. Crude stockpiles fell by 8-million barrels last week to about 487-million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday.More lockdowns could put a cap on oil price gains as Italy, Norway and Hungary tightened Covid-19 restrictions, following the UK, France and other countries.