Oil steady on strong gasoline demand, Red Sea attacks while Trump tariffs loom
Oil prices were steady on Wednesday as investors weighed strong U.S. gasoline demand data and attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, while U.S. copper tariffs loomed.
Brent crude futures settled up 4 cents, or 0.06%, to $70.19 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled up 5 cents, or 0.07%, to $68.38 a barrel.
U.S. crude stocks rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 7.1 million barrels to 426 million barrels in the week ended July 4, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a draw of 2.1 million barrels.
Gasoline demand rose 6% to 9.2 million barrels per day last week, the EIA said.
After months of calm in the Red Sea, attacks in the major global shipping lane were renewed in the past week. Rescuers pulled six crew members alive from the Red Sea on Wednesday and 15 were still missing from the second of two ships sunk in recent days in attacks claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia after months of calm.
Source : Reuters
