Crude oil futures ended higher on Wednesday as a decline in crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla. storage hub to the lowest level since early 2020 provided support, outweighing any pressure from the first weekly US crude inventory rise since mid-May. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels for the week ended July 16, marking the first weekly rise in nine weeks. The EIA data also showed crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub declined by 1.4 million barrels for the week to 36.7 million barrels. Stocks at the storage hub haven’t been this low since January 2020. The EIA also reported that gasoline supplies edged down by 100,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 1.3 million barrels for the week.
Crude oil futures for September rose $3.10 or about 4.6 percent to settle at $70.30 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September Brent crude gained $2.88 or 4.2 percent to settle at $72.23 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.