Benchmark crude prices rise on Wednesday following the publication of data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showing an unexpected decline in US inventories last week.
The cost of May Brent oil futures on the London ICE Futures exchange is currently $ 68.42 per barrel, which is $ 0.03 (0.04%) higher than the price at the close of the previous session. As a result of trading on Tuesday, these contracts fell by $ 0.49 (0.7%) – to $ 68.39 per barrel.
The price of WTI crude oil futures for April in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time is $ 64.91 per barrel, which is $ 0.11 (0.17%) higher than the level at the close of the previous session. On Tuesday, the value of these contracts fell by $ 0.59 (0.9%) to $ 64.8 per barrel.
According to API data, US oil inventories for the week ended March 12 decreased by 1.047 million barrels after rising by 12.792 million barrels in the previous week. Experts expected an average increase of 2.715 million barrels of stocks, Trading Economics reports.