Chinese demand sends oil higher
Brent rises on China’s refinery throughput and unexpected decline in US stockpiles
Seoul — Oil prices rose for a second day on Wednesday on signs of strong demand from refineries in China, the world’s second-largest crude user, amid tightening supply as producers curtail output and as oil inventories in the US fell unexpectedly. International benchmark Brent crude oil futures rose 21c, or 0.29%, to $71.93 a barrel by 3.19am GMT. Brent gained as much as 0.5% to 72.08 a barrel, the highest since November 8 and the highest in 2019. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.45 per barrel, up 40c, or 0.6% from their previous settlement. “Crude oil futures edged up as market sentiments were buoyed by a surprise drawdown in US crude oil inventories and tighter market fundamentals in the current term,” said Benjamin Lu, commodities analyst at Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Futures. China’s refinery throughput in March rose 3.2% from a year earlier to 53.04-million tons, or 12.49-million barrels per day (bpd), data from the National Bureau of Statistics...
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