Natural-gas futures edged lower after a three-session climb on the back of recent news that Russia has moved to curb supplies of the fuel to Europe.
Traders were also awaiting the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting that’s expected to see another large interest-rate hike.
Price action
West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose $2.17, or 2.28%, to $97.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
September Brent crude the global benchmark, rose $2.08, or 2.09%, to $101.54 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Supply data
Oil prices added to earlier gains on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration reported weekly declines in U.S. crude, gasoline and distillate supplies.
“Despite the drop in refining activity, lower imports and strong exports have resulted in a solid draw to crude inventories — even with a 5.6 million-barrel [Strategic Petroleum Reserve] release into commercial stocks,” said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst, Americas, at Kpler. “Draws to both gasoline and distillates have rounded out a price-supportive report, as implied demand rose for both in the last week.”
U.S. crude inventories fell by 4.5 million barrels for the week ended July 22, the EIA reported Wednesday. On average, analysts expected a decline of 800,000 barrels, according to a poll conducted by S&P Global Commodity Insights. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday said U.S. crude supplies fell 4 million barrels last week, according to the Dow Jones Newswires.
The EIA report also showed weekly supply declines of 3.3 million barrels for gasoline and 800,000 barrels for distillates. The analyst survey called for inventory decreases of 1.1 million barrels for gasoline and 200,000 barrels for distillates.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., Nymex delivery hub edged up by 700,000 barrels, while crude-oil stocks in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 5.6 million barrels last week, the EIA said.
Market drivers
Concerns that aggressive monetary tightening by the Fed and other central banks could tip the economy into recession or spark a sharp slowdown have weighed on crude-oil prices in recent weeks, analysts said.
The Fed is expected to announce another 75 basis point rise in its benchmark interest rate later Wednesday.
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