As Americans prepare to travel for the Holiday weekend, oil prices in the United States increased by more than $2 a barrel earlier this week amid news that a snowstorm is expected to land in the coming days.
Futures for Brent Crude Oil grew by 2.76% to $82.20 a barrel as West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up by 2.7% at $78.29 a barrel, according to Reuters. Both oil benchmarks saw prices increase by at least $2 a barrel.
However, the U.S Energy Information Administration released data showing that crude inventories fell by 5.89 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute showed that there was a 3.1 million barrel draw for the week of Dec. 16.
“This report is very bullish, especially with the fact that there’s a draw from the crude oil equation and distillate inventories stopped their streak of builds ahead of the cold blast,” said oil analyst Phil Flynn in a statement to Reuters.
OIL MARKET FACES ‘CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTIES,’ OPEC WARNS
Prices were assisted by the news that China plans to ease back on COVID-19 regulations that have curbed travel across the world’s most populated country. Distillate inventories also dropped by 242,000 barrels, as shown by EIA data.
DIESEL HITS RECORD PREMIUM OVER GAS, OIL
A heavy snowstorm will cause flight delays and make it difficult to travel across the U.S. during the country’s busiest travel season. As a result, the weather conditions helped bring down oil demand in the U.S.
In other parts of the world, the European Union’s oil embargo Russia saw its petroleum exports fall by 11% for the month of December.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP