Oil futures rose amidst US gasoline supplies decreasing and the housing sales in the US picking up pace. Brent Crude futures rose by 0.83 percent to USD $ 106.03 per barrel, while WTI crude futures rose by 0.79 percent to be at USD $ 90.58 per barrel.
The US Energy Department declared in a report released yesterday that gasoline stockpiles fell to 1.8 million barrels last week, whereas they had been estimated to increase by 1.2 million barrels. Furthermore, the report also stated that US oil demand was at an average of 19 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, which is an increase of 0.4 percent from its demand for the same duration of time last year. Also, consumption of oil has increased by 0.3 percent to 18.6 million barrels a day on a week-to-week basis over the past seven days.
The US Commerce Department reported that housing starts increased by 6.9 percent to 760,000 annual, up from their previously estimated figure of 711,000 annual.
Therefore, an increase in the demand of crude oil from the world’s largest oil consumer, coupled with a slight fall in crude stockpiles as well as greater optimism about the recovery of the US economy has pushed up the price of crude oil futures.