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The
American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday crude inventories
fell by 3.5 million barrels, versus expectations for a
985,000-barrel build. The Energy Information Administration's
official stocks report is due at 1530 GMT.
Brent crude was up 39 cents, or 0.6%, at $61.48 by 1027 GMT
after touching a 13-month high of $61.49 earlier in the session.
U.S. crude was up 27 cents, or 0.5%, to $58.63 and touched
$58.69, also a 13-month high.
"One can only wonder whether there's further to go in this
week's rally," said Stephen Brennock of broker PVM. "However, as
things stand, oil has yet to lose its shine."
Brent has now risen for nine sessions in a row, its longest
sustained period of gains since December 2018-January 2019. Some
analysts say a pullback may be on the cards.
"There is no doubt that oil prices have gone too far and too
fast, which means a retracement is certainly due," said Naeem
Aslam, chief market analyst at Avatrade.
Crude has jumped since November as governments kicked off
vaccination drives for COVID-19, while putting in place large
stimulus packages to boost economic activity and the world's top
producers kept a lid on supply.
Top exporter Saudi Arabia is unilaterally reducing supply in
February and March, supplementing cuts agreed by other members
of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
and allies, known as OPEC+.
Some analysts forecast supply will undershoot demand in 2021 as
more people get vaccinated and start going away on trips and
working in offices.
"Saudi-led supply cuts coupled with optimism of a vaccine-led
demand revival are spurring an oil market deficit," said
Brennock of PVM.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore and Edmund Blair)
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