Oil settles slightly higher, investors focus on steep draw in fuel stocks
Oil prices closed slightly higher in choppy trading on Thursday, as a steep draw in U.S. fuel stocks outweighed oversupply concerns and demand worries stemming from a stronger dollar.
Brent crude futures settled 28 cents, or 0.4% higher at $72.56 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.4% at $68.70. Both benchmarks had briefly dipped into negative territory during the trading session.
Brent was on track to lose about 1.7% for the week, while WTI was set to end the week over 2% lower due to a stronger U.S. dollar and worries about rising supply amid slow demand growth.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 4.4 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 600,000-barrel build. The stockpile of 206.9 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 8 was the lowest since November 2022.
Source: Reuters
