© Reuters. An oil pump in Texas, USA – Photo from the Reuters Archive.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It rose about 1% on Thursday after posting the biggest two-day loss at the start of a year in three decades. Prices were supported by US data showing declining fuel inventories, but gains were limited by economic concerns.
The steep declines over the past two days came on the back of fears of a global recession, especially after weak economic indicators from the world’s two largest oil-consuming countries, the United States and China.
U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed on Thursday that U.S. distillate inventories fell more-than-expected after a winter storm engulfed the country in late December.
The administration said U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 346,000 barrels last week, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll, for a drop of 486,000 barrels.
Crude futures rose 85 cents, or 1.1%, to 78.69 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 83 cents, or 1.2%, to $73.67 a barrel.
Brent and U.S. crude fell more than nine percent on Tuesday and Wednesday, the biggest two-day loss at the start of a year since January 1991, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon.
(Reporting by Ali Khafaji and Marwa Gharib for the Arab Bulletin – Editing by Ali Khafaji)
