Crude oil rises on inventory data

18 June 2009

Crude oil prices held steady around $70 (£42.56) a barrel on Wednesday as US stockpiles continued to fall, boosting hopes that demand is beginning to pick up as the recession shows signs of easing.

The US Energy Information Administration's weekly report revealed that inventories fell by nearly four million barrels over the course of the week to June 12th, exceeding the expectations of most analysts.

A fall in the strength of the US dollar, coupled with a day of gains on the stock market, also helped support the oil market as prices climbed back beyond $71 a barrel.

US crude for July delivery settled at $71.03, up 56 cents on the previous day, while London Brent crude gained 61 cents to close at $70.85 a barrel.

The recent price rally has stalled in the past few days, but values have still more than doubled since the turn of the year.

Home heating oil customers might wish to purchase supplies of the domestic fuel now in order to avoid the effects of any further rise in crude prices as the world economy begins to recover from the recession.

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