LONDON—Oil prices rose modestly on Wednesday but were under
pressure ahead of key U.S. supply data as investors remain wary of
the continuing Greek debt negotiations.
Brent crude for August delivery rose 0.1% to $64.50 a barrel on
London's ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange,
West Texas Intermediate futures for July were trading up 0.1 % at
$61.05 a barrel.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, reported a
larger-than-expected 3.2 million-barrel decline in U.S. inventories
last week. The data also showed a 2.0 million-barrel drop at the
key trading hub of Cushing, Okla.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its
official inventory data later on Wednesday. Analysts polled by The
Wall Street Journal expect a 2.3 million-barrel drop.
Investors are still looking for strong signs that the market is
in the process of rebalancing, said Dominick Chirichella of Energy
Market Analysis. "So far the only sign has been a steady destocking
of crude oil inventories in the U.S. for the last two months as
refiner demand remains robust heading into the summer driving
season."
The EIA's report will also be scrutinized for its U.S. oil
production estimate. Despite the significant drop in oil drilling
rigs since last year, U.S. producers kept pumping crude at a
multi-decade high of around 9.6 million barrels a day.
According to the Kuwait Official News Agency, the country's Oil
Minister Ali al-Omair said that oil prices are likely to rise
further because of the fall in stockpiles, fewer drilling rigs and
the improved global economic growth.
"We have reached a stage where a drop in oil prices is
unlikely," he said, reported the news agency.
Meanwhile, officials hope eurozone finance ministers on
Wednesday can sign off on a policy package agreed to by Greece and
the institutions overseeing its bailout. But significant divisions
remain between Athens and its creditors
Failure to clinch a deal could put Greece on the road to
bankruptcy and exit from the common currency area. A Greek default
could hurt European oil demand, analysts said.
"Tremors in the financial markets can create big waves in the
oil markets making a fool of even the best thought out analysis on
the direction of oil prices," said David Hufton of PVM
brokerage.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for July—the benchmark
gasoline contract—rose 0.7% to $2.0906 a gallon, while ICE gasoil
for July changed hands at $587.75 a metric ton, up $3.50 from
Tuesday's settlement.
Summer Said in Dubai contributed to this article.
Write to Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com
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