ISLAMABAD: Crude oil prices remained on an upward slide for the third straight day on Wednesday amid a promising sign that the spread of delta infections is easing in China, as the country reported just 20 new coronavirus cases for August 24, down from 35 a day earlier.
At 1215 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, gained $0.55 (+0.77 percent) to reach $71.60 a barrel. Similarly, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) reached $67.96 a barrel, up by $0.42 (+0.62 percent).
The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $67.33 a barrel with 1.81 percent increase, Arab Light was available at $71.57 a barrel with 1.92 percent increase, while the price of Russian Sokol jumped to $70.32 after gaining 1.82 percent.
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a draw in crude oil inventories of 1.622 million barrels for the week ending August 20, bringing the total 2021 crude draw so far to more than 58 million barrels. Analysts had expected a loss of 2.367 million barrels for the week.
In the previous week, the API reported a draw in oil inventories of 1.13 million barrels —a loss smaller than the 1.259 million barrel draw that analysts had predicted.
Oil prices have been rising since Monday, staunching the bleeding from the previous seven-day streak of losses as concerns about demand began to de-escalate.
