LONDON—Oil prices rose in a volatile session Thursday
as investors brace themselves for key U.S. oil supply data.
Brent crude for July delivery recently rose 0.7% to $62.48 a
barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile
Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures for July were trading up
0.3% at $57.67 a barrel.
Late Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry
group, reported a surprise 1.3-million-barrel rise in U.S. crude
stockpiles for last week.
The more closely watched data by the U.S. Energy Information
Administration is due later, and markets expect weekly supplies to
have decreased by 1.1 million barrels, according to analysts polled
by The Wall Street Journal.
"Consensus [for the EIA report] is small draws in crude,
gasoline and distillates inventories, expect volatility if the
report differs from expectations," said Michael Poulsen, oil
analyst at Global Risk Management.
The EIA will also release U.S. weekly oil production estimates.
Signs that low oil prices are starting to affect U.S. oil
production and inventories are among the key factors that supported
bullish price sentiment and helped oil prices rally in recent
weeks.
Uncertainty surrounding nuclear negotiations with Iran is also
fueling bullish sentiment as an expected increase in the country's
oil exports hinges on the outcome of the talks.
Keeping the original June 30 deadline for a final deal on the
Iranian nuclear program looks increasingly difficult and there
still seems to be hurdles to overcome between the parties, Mr.
Poulsen said.
"Most likely, the deadline will be postponed to some time in
July. This makes the likelihood of Iranian oil flooding into the
market this year less likely," he said.
Meanwhile, market participants are turning their focus on next
week's meeting by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries. OPEC is meeting at its Vienna headquarters on June 5 and
is widely expected to maintain its production target as it did at
its last meeting in November despite falling prices and the global
glut of oil.
"While OPEC again is facing continued oversupply, lower oil
prices do appear to be having the intended effect of reducing
investment by non-OPEC producers," analysts at UBS said in a
report. "Thus, we see no reason for the Gulf members to shift their
position and hence no change from OPEC."
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for June—the
benchmark gasoline contract—rose 1% to $1.9655 a gallon,
while ICE gasoil for June changed hands at $574.00 a metric ton,
down $2.25 from Wednesday's settlement.
Eric Yep in Singapore contributed to this article.
Write to Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com
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