Oil bulls take charge as demand outlook improves, Brent up a fifth day

Wednesday,   16-Jun-2021   09:34 AM (IST)

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, with Brent gaining for a fifth consecutive session, as falling stockpiles and a recovery in demand encouraged investors. Brent crude was up 69 cents, or 0.9%, at $74.68 a barrel by 0200 GMT, having risen 1.6% on Tuesday. U.S. crude gained 66 cents, or 0.9%, to $72.78 a barrel, after rising 1.7% in the previous session. U.S. oil inventories dropped by 8.5 million barrels in the week ended June 11, according to two market sources, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Crude stocks were expected to have fallen for a fourth week in a row, dropping by about 3.3 million barrels last week, according to analysts polled by Reuters. Official government data is due out Wednesday. Executives from major oil traders said on Tuesday they expected prices to remain above $70 a barrel and demand to return to pre-pandemic levels in the second half of 2022.