“Oil Prices Rise on Decline in US Inventories and OPEC+ Speculation”

Oil prices continued to rise, on Wednesday, after data showed a decline in US oil and fuel inventories, in addition to increasing market speculation about new production cuts by the OPEC + alliance.

Market participants had speculated that the Saudi Energy Minister’s remarks about speculators may be a sign that the OPEC+ alliance may discuss further production cuts during a meeting scheduled for June 4th.

The rise in oil prices also came, supported by data showing a sharp decline in US crude oil and fuel inventories.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that crude stocks fell by 6.8 million barrels in the week ending May 19, and gasoline stocks fell by 6.4 million barrels.

And if the US Energy Information Administration data confirmed this decline on Wednesday, this would mean that gasoline stocks in the United States fell for the third week in a row, to their lowest levels in this period of the year since 2014.

Market movements

Brent crude futures rose 1.19 dollars or 1.55 percent to 78.03 Dollars per barrel by 10:43 GMT, while Nymex crude rose 1.23 dollars or 1.69 percent to 74.15 dollars per barrel.