Oil Rises as U.S. Stockpile Dips – 26 July, 2022

A larger than expected drawdown in U.S. crude stockpiles pushed oil prices slightly higher in early Asian trading. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 67 cents, or 0.7%, to $95.65 a barrel. Brent crude futures rose 33 cents, or 0.3%, to $104.73 a barrel. The American Institute of Petroleum said stockpiles in the United States fell by 4 million barrels last week, four times the 1 million barrel decline expected by analysts in a Reuters poll. The U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration releases its weekly oil report later on Wednesday. Prices were also lifted by expectations of a tighter gas squeeze in Europe from Wednesday after Russia’s Gazprom said it would cut flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany to a fifth of capacity.