|
Having dipped into negative territory, Brent crude futures rose
53 cents, or 0.5%, to $105.52 a barrel by 1024 GMT. U.S. West
Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 60 cents, or 0.6%, to
reach $102.30 a barrel.
Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Wednesday it halted gas
supplies to Bulgaria and Poland in a major escalation of
Russia's broader row with the West over Ukraine.
While crude prices on Wednesday did not jump, the row sent NYMEX
ultra-low-sulfur diesel futures up more than 9% on Tuesday to
$4.47 a gallon, a record close.
U.S. government data on oil inventories is due later on
Wednesday. [EIA/S] Industry data on Tuesday showed U.S. crude
and distillate stocks rose last week, while gasoline inventories
fell. [API/S]
Also capping oil price gains, the dollar rose to its highest in
two years on Wednesday, making oil purchases more expensive for
holders of other currencies. [FRX/]
"A U.S. crude build last week and still solid Russian crude
exports is limiting the upside for crude," said UBS commodity
analyst Giovanni Stauvono.
"This in a risk off environment with a stronger U.S. dollar and
mobility restrictions in the second largest oil consumer China."
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that Asia faced a "stagflationary"
outlook with the Ukraine war, a spike in commodity costs and a
slowdown in China.
Still, China's domestic flight demand has rebounded, travel data
firm OAG said.
China's central bank said on Tuesday it would step up monetary
policy support as Beijing races to stamp out a nascent COVID-19
outbreak in the capital and avert the same type of debilitating
city-wide lockdown Shanghai has been under for a month. Any
stimulus would boost oil demand.
(Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore; editing by
David Evans)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
