Oil increased as US crude inventories dropped, exacerbating concerns about a tight market after traders expressed doubt that OPEC+ can deliver on its agreement to accelerate the pace of a supply hike.
West Texas Intermediate rose above $116 a barrel, recovering losses of more than 3% than earlier in the session. US crude stockpiles fell more than 5 million barrels last week, while New York-area gasoline stockpiles fell to the lowest since 2017, according to an Energy Information Administration report Thursday.
Earlier, OPEC+ agreed to boost supply increases by about 50% to add 648,000 barrels. The decision comes after the European Union approved a partial ban on Russian oil imports. The decision suggests that Riyadh has finally assented to Washington’s request for more barrels. However, with the hike spread across the group’s member nations the actual production delivered to market is likely to be much smaller than advertised.
