Oil was mixed in the Asian trade today as a larger-than-expected fall in crude stockpiles underscored strong energy demand in the United States, the world’s biggest economy.
Price gains, however, were being limited by concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone, analysts said.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, was down one cent to $98.04 a barrel in the morning trade. Brent North Sea crude for August delivery rose 14 cents to $118.92.
“The US oil inventories report showed a larger-than-expected stock drawdown for the sixth consecutive week,” said Mr Victor Shum, an analyst with Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy in Singapore.
He said this indicated that “US oil demand remains quite strong despite the high unemployment situation.”
The US Department of Energy reported that crude inventories dropped by 3.1 million barrels last week, more than double the amount expected by analysts.
Additionally, petrol inventories fell 800,000 barrels, reflecting heavy usage over the July 4 Independence Day weekend, one of the busiest periods of the US summer driving season.
The US energy consumption is being closely monitored by the market because it is the world’s biggest economy and oil consumer.
Meanwhile, the Paris-based International Energy Agency warned that the oil market needed more supplies for the third quarter of 2011, despite increased OPEC production and its own emergency stock release last month.