SEOUL- Oil prices rose on Wednesday following a sharp drop in US crude inventories, with the market waiting for next steps from a meeting later in the day on the future level of output cuts by OPEC and its allies.
Brent crude futures were up 19 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $43.09 a barrel as of 0343 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $40.46 a barrel.
Reflecting a recovery in fuel demand despite the coronavirus pandemic, US crude inventories fell by 8.3 million barrels in the week to July 10, beating analysts’ expectations for a decline of 2.1 million barrels, according to data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute.
Official numbers from the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) are due on Wednesday.
“API numbers released overnight, have provided some support to the market in early morning trading today,” ING Economics said in a note.
On supply, the market will be closely watching for news from a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) later on Wednesday.
