2024-03-14 01:51:15
Oil extended gains in Asian trade on Thursday following a surprise drop in US crude stocks indicated strengthening demand, while possible supply disruptions following Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries also supported prices.
Brent crude rose 10 cents, or 0.12 percent, to $84.13 a barrel by 0115 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 7 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $79.79 per barrel.
Both contracts rose regarding 3% to a four-month high Wednesday on high U.S. demand prospects and heightened geopolitical risks.
Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refining facilities continued for a second day on Wednesday, sparking a fire at Rosneft’s largest refinery in one of the most serious attacks on Russia’s energy sector in recent months.
After seriously damaging the Lukoil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday, Ukraine hit refineries in the Rostov and Ryazan regions, according to Russian officials.
In Ryazan, a drone attack caused a fire at the Rosneft refinery. Two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters the refinery had been forced to shut down two primary oil refining units.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Western countries in an interview with state media on Wednesday that Russia is technically ready for nuclear war.
On the demand side, U.S. crude oil inventories fell unexpectedly due to increased processing and gasoline inventories declined due to strong demand heading into the summer season, a the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.
Crude inventories ended six consecutive weeks of increases to decline by 1.5 million barrels to 447 million barrels in the week ended March 8, the EIA said, as analysts expected an increase of 1.3 million barrels in a poll carried out by the Reuters agency.
Gasoline inventories fell for the sixth straight week, falling 5.7 million barrels to 234.1 million barrels, according to the EIA, triple expectations for a 1.9 million decline. barrels.
Fuel inventories on the US Gulf Coast fell to their lowest level since November 2022, while finished gasoline supplied, a gauge of demand, increased by 30,000 barrels per day to exceed 9 million of bpj for the first time this year.
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