Oil prices up over US first quarter data

Oil prices increased on Friday on the back of demand optimism after US economic growth in the first quarter of 2023 was revised up to 2%, according to the Commerce Department’s third and final reading released earlier. While the second reading announced last month stood at 1.3%, the first reading released in April was 1.1%.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $74.52 per barrel at 0811GMT, a 0.38% gain from the closing price of $74.51 a barrel in the previous trading session on Thursday.

The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at the same time at $70.16 per barrel, up 0.86% from the previous session’s close of $69.56 per barrel.

The massive decline in the crude oil stockpiles in US, the world’s largest oil consuming country, hinted a rising demand at the beginning of the travel season supported rising of the prices.

US commercial crude oil inventories declined by 2.1% during the week ending June 23, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday.

Inventories fell by around 9.6 million barrels to 453.7 million barrels, relative to the American Petroleum Institute’s expectation of a fall of 2.4 million barrels.

Oil prices, on the other hand, were restrained by China’s manufacturing activity contracting for the third month in a row in June, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics data issued on Friday.

• Energy Information Administration (EIA)