An oil tanker in the sea outside the Puerto La Cruz oil refinery in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. Picture: REUTERS/ALEXANDRA ULMEROil prices rose more than 1% on Wednesday after data showed crude inventories in the US fell much more than expected, suggesting demand is improving even as the coronavirus outbreak spreads around the world.
US crude and petrol stocks declined more than expected last week, while distillate inventories rose, data released by the American Petroleum Institute late on Tuesday showed. Official inventory data from the US government’s Energy Information Administration is due out later on Wednesday.The 13-member grouping produced an average of 22.62-million barrels a day in June after they agreed to cut output, a Reuters survey found, down 1.92-million barrels a day from May’s revised figure.
Prices for later this year are likely to be capped, analysts said, as the world is awash with oil after the coronavirus caused demand for fuel to drop by around a third.