Oil prices rise because of falling inventories in the United States

UKYO (Reuters) – Oil rose for a third day on Thursday because of declining US stocks and strong demand for US gasoline, while signs of OPEC may not increase production Iranian.

World benchmark Brent LCoC1 crude rose 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $ 79.60 at 2:14 GMT, after gaining half a percent on Wednesday.

West Texas Intermediate CLc1 crude oil was up 55 cents, or 0.8%, to $ 71.67 a barrel, after rising nearly 2 percent in the previous session.

US crude oil inventories fell for a fifth consecutive week to the lowest 3-1 / 2 year of the week up to September 14, while gasoline inventories also posted stronger demand than announced, Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. . [EIA/S]

Crude inventories fell by 2.1 million barrels, according to EIA data, while forecasts predicted a drop of 2.7 million barrels.

"Buyers are again in charge, especially since traders have shown great resistance to the unexpected publication of the API survey," said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia. -Pacific at OANDA in Singapore.

He was referring to the weekly oil industry survey, the American Petroleum Institute (API), which said on Tuesday that US stocks had risen 1.2 million barrels last week. [API/S]

US sanctions affecting Iranian oil exports come into effect on Nov. 4, and many buyers have already cut back their Iranian purchases. But it is difficult to know how easily other producers can compensate for a loss of supply.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, including Russia, are meeting Sunday in Algeria to discuss how to allocate supply increases to their quota framework to compensate for the loss of supply Iranian.

OPEC sources told Reuters that no immediate action was planned and that producers would discuss how to share the previously agreed production increase.

Chart: Iranian crude oil shipments from January 2016 to August 2018 (reut.rs/2p69koR)