U.S. crude inventories rose about 3.6 million barrels in the week ending May 12, according to figures from the American Petroleum Institute. Seven analysts polled by Reuters had expected a drop of 900,000 barrels.
price movement
Brent crude futures rose 7 cents, or 0.09%, to $74.98 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude also rose 5 cents, or 0.07%, to $70.93 as of 0300 GMT, Reuters data showed.
On the other hand, economic data raised concerns about growth in the United States, as data showed that retail sales rose 0.4% in April, which was below estimates for a 0.8% increase.
“There are a lot of question marks in the global economic outlook and that doesn’t give energy traders much confidence to buy crude oil. There’s still a lot of oil available at the moment,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst. of the market at OANDA, in a note. .
Discussions about raising the US debt ceiling also continue to influence the market. The US Treasury has estimated that the United States will default on June 1 if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling.
In China, April industrial production and retail sales grew below expectations, indicating that the economy lost momentum at the start of the second quarter.
Meanwhile, markets are closely watching any measures related to the expansion of sanctions against Russia that the G7 leaders may take when they meet in Japan from May 19-21.
Officials with direct knowledge of the talks said the G7 was seeking to avoid sanctions involving third countries, in an effort to limit Russia’s future energy production and curb the trade that supports its military.
Separately, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told the Financial Times that the bloc should crack down on India, which resells Russian oil to Europe as refined fuel.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to attend the G7 summit as a guest and will meet Biden.
Oil prices fell even as the International Energy Agency raised its forecast for global oil demand this year by 200,000 bpd to a record 102 million bpd.
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