Crude oil prices stabilized at the start of European trading today, Thursday, July 31, after three consecutive sessions of gains, trading at their highest levels since June 23, ignoring a surprise rise in inventories amid Trump’s threats to impose sanctions on Russia and buyers of Russian oil if a truce with Ukraine is not reached. U.S. crude (NYMEX) rose by about 0.13% to trade at $70.09 a barrel, while Brent crude traded at $73.31 a barrel, up about 0.10%.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s report released yesterday, Wednesday, showed a rise in inventories of 7.7 thousand barrels in the past week ending July 25, compared to expectations of a decline of 1.6 million barrels. In detail, gasoline inventories decreased by about 2.7 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, increased by about 3.6 million barrels.