Oil prices rise more than 2 % in European trading

Oil prices rose more than two percent during mid-day trading, today, Wednesday, in Europe, to compensate for some of the losses of the previous session, as the impact of the decline in US crude inventories and concerns about disruptions in US production due to Hurricane Frances outweighed concerns about weak global demand. Brent crude futures rose by $1.41, or 2.04 %, to $70.60 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose by $1.79, or 2.7 %, to $67.54 a barrel. Benchmark crude prices fell on Tuesday, with Brent falling below $70 a barrel to its lowest since December 2021, and US crude falling to its lowest since May 2023, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut its demand growth forecast for 2024 for the second time. According to data from the American Petroleum Institute, US crude inventories fell by 2.793 million barrels, fuel inventories fell by 513,000 barrels, and distillate inventories rose by 191,000 barrels. OPEC said in its monthly report that globa l oil demand will rise by 2.03 million barrels per day in 2024, down from last month's growth forecast of 2.11 million barrels per day. OPEC also lowered its estimate for global oil demand growth in 2025 to 1.74 million barrels per day from 1.78 million barrels per day. Source: National Iraqi News Agency