TOKYO, July 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday,
extending gains after an industry group reported a much bigger
than expected drop in U.S. inventories, while the U.S. Navy said
it may have downed a second Iranian drone last week.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 24 cents, or 0.4%, at
$64.07 a barrel by 0049 GMT, after rising nearly 1% on Tuesday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 were up 22 cents,
or 0.4%, a barrel, having risen about 1% in the previous
session.
U.S. crude stocks fell more than expected in the week to
July 19, declining by 11 million barrels to 449 million, the
trade group American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday.
That compared with analysts' expectations of a decrease of 4
million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by
448,000 barrels, although gasoline stocks rose by 4.4 million
barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll
for a 730,000-barrel decline.
The U.S. government's official figures are due Wednesday
morning. [EIA/S ]
Signs of rising tensions in the Middle East offset a weaker
global growth outlook from the International Monetary Fund,
which had kept prices largely flat for much of Tuesday's
session. Iran's capture of a British oil tanker last week sparked
worries about supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz,
through which about a fifth of the world's oil flows.
The United States had said a Navy ship "destroyed" a drone
there after it threatened the vessel, but Iran said it had no
information about losing a drone.
"We are confident we brought down one drone, we may have
brought down a second," General Kenneth McKenzie told CBS News
in an interview. The U.S. warship Boxer may have brought down a second drone
last week, a U.S. official told Reuters on the condition of
anonymity, although it was still to be confirmed.
The tensions come as the United States aims to cut off
Iran's oil exports and against the backdrop of supply cuts led
by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries since
the start of the year to prop up prices.
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U.S. crude inventories, weekly changes since 2017 png https://tmsnrt.rs/2XlX17b
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