Crude prices rose at the start of European trading today, Wednesday, July 2, for the second consecutive session, ignoring market expectations of higher OPEC+ production in August. Amid anticipation of US inventory figures later today, Brent crude rose by about 1.63%, trading at $67.53 per barrel, while US crude (NYMEX) traded at $65.84 per barrel, up about 0.60%.
The American Petroleum Institute report issued yesterday, Tuesday, showed a rise in inventories of 680,000 barrels in the past week ending June 27, compared to expectations for a decrease of 2.26 million barrels. In detail, gasoline inventories rose by about 1.92 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, fell by about 3.458 million barrels.
Markets are awaiting the US Energy Information Administration report on Wednesday, which is estimated to have decreased inventories by about 3.5 million barrels. In a related development, OPEC+ sources told Reuters that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC oil-producing countries, known as OPEC+, plan to increase production by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August at their meeting on July 6, the same amount as the increases agreed upon in May, June, and July.