Crude oil prices rose mid-day in European trading on Wednesday, August 20, following a decline in inventories, according to preliminary figures from the American Petroleum Institute. Amid anticipation of official figures from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, markets are monitoring the situation related to a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, with US President Donald Trump brokering a peace agreement that could support easing restrictions on Russian crude exports. US crude (NYMEX) rose by about 0.90%, trading at $62.90 a barrel, while Brent crude traded at $66.28 a barrel, up about 0.80%.
The US Energy Information Administration report issued yesterday, Tuesday, showed a decline in inventories of 2.4 million barrels in the past week ending August 15, compared to expectations of a decline of 1.2 million barrels. In detail, gasoline inventories rose by about 1 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include heating fuel and diesel, rose by about 500,000 barrels.

Today, markets await official inventory figures from the US Energy Information Administration, with expectations of a 1.5 million barrel drop last week.