HOUSTON: Oil prices hit new peaks on Wednesday with the global Brent benchmark touching its highest since January after a steep drawdown in US fuel stockpiles and tighter supply owing to Saudi and Russian output cuts offset concerns over slow demand from China.
Brent crude was up 44 cents, or 0.51%, at $86.59 a barrel by 12:33 p.m. ET (1633 GMT), having earlier touched $87.65, its highest since Jan. 27.
West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) gained 39 cents, or 0.5%, to $83.34. The US benchmark touched $84.65, its highest level since November 2022.
US gasoline stocks fell by 2.7 million barrels last week, while distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, dropped by 1.7 million barrels, government data showed, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for both to hold mostly steady.
“The draws in refined products continue to be bullish for the oil market,” said Andrew Lipow, president at Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.
Markets largely shrugged off a higher-than-expected 5.85 million-barrel build in US crude stocks after a record drawdown the week before.
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