Oil prices rose in early trading on Thursday, recovering from the previous session's decline, driven by stronger-than-expected economic data from the world's largest oil consumers and signs of easing trade tensions, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
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Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.39%, to $68.79 a barrel by 00:00 GMT (03:00 Kyiv time). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 31 cents, or 0.47%, to $66.69. Both benchmarks fell more than 0.2% in the previous session.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.9 million barrels to 422.2 million barrels last week. This was a sharper drop than the 552,000 barrels forecast, indicating increased refinery activity, reduced supply, and increased demand.
"Some support is provided by favorable marginal conditions in the refining sector. Spreads on petroleum products remain relatively wide across all regions," said John Paisie, president of Stratas Advisors.
However, a larger-than-expected increase in gasoline and diesel inventories limited price growth.
The latest review of the U.S. economy, published on Wednesday, reflects increased activity in recent weeks. However, the outlook was "neutral or slightly pessimistic" as companies reported that rising import tariffs were putting pressure on prices.
Data from China showed a slowdown in growth in the second quarter, but not as significantly as previously expected, partly due to pre-purchasing to circumvent U.S. tariffs, which eased concerns about the state of the economy of the world's largest oil importer.
The data also showed that China's crude oil throughput in June increased by 8.5% compared to the same period last year, indicating growing demand for fuel.
In addition, "positive news about some easing of trade tensions between China and the U.S., related to President Trump's lifting of the ban on selling AI chips to China, as well as the announcement of a trade agreement with Indonesia," provided support, John Paisie added.
U.S. President Donald Trump instilled optimism about the prospects of reaching an agreement with Beijing on combating drug trafficking. He also hinted that a trade agreement with India is very close to being concluded, and an agreement with Europe may also be reached.
Trade tariffs can slow global economic growth and, in turn, reduce demand for fuel, easing pressure on prices.
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