Oil inches up, but concerns over demand recovery cap gains

Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, although gains were capped by a surprise build in U.S. crude oil inventories, while a persistent surge in new coronavirus cases continued to dampen a recovery in fuel demand, Reuters reports. 

U.S. crude and distillate inventories rose unexpectedly and fuel demand slipped in the most recent week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, as a sharp rise in coronavirus cases starts to hit U.S. consumption.

Brent crude LCOc1 rose 7 cents, or 0.2%, to $44.36 a barrel by 0545 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $41.98 a barrel.

The United States reported more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, marking the first time since June 10 the nation has surpassed that grim milestone.

Crude inventories USOILC=ECI rose by 4.9 million barrels in the week to July 17 to 536.6 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 2.1 million-barrel drop.

The oil market is likely to take direction from consumer confidence data expected from Europe later in the day.

News.Az 

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