Oil climbs as sources say API data show U.S. crude supply down more than 8 million barrels
The American Petroleum Institute reported Tuesday a much larger-than-expected drop of 8.1 million barrels in U.S. crude supplies for the week ended July 7, according to sources. "We are finally seeing the impact from cumulative OPEC cuts, lower U.S. output and strong demand," said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. The API data also showed a fall of 801,000 barrels in gasoline supplies, while inventories of distillates were up 2.1 million barrels, sources said. Supply data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday morning. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expect the EIA to report a decline of 2.6 million barrels in crude inventories. August crude CLQ7, +3.06% was at $45.71 a barrel in electronic trading, up from the contract’s settlement of $45.04 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
