Oil closes higher as US crude inventories fall for third week

Oil drilling rigs

Oil futures prices turned positive today, July 17, as US crude inventories fell for the third straight week despite weak refinery activity last week.

Brent crude futures for September delivery rose by 1.6%, or $1.35, to close at $85.08 a barrel, after touching $83.43.

WTI crude for August delivery jumped 2.6%, or $2.09, to record $82.85 per barrel, after falling to $80.45.

Data from the US Energy Information Administration revealed that oil inventories fell by 4.9 million barrels last week, more than the expected decline of about 900,000 barrels. The refinery utilization rate fell from 95.4% to 93.7%.

The weekly report showed that US crude oil production was stable at 13.3 million barrels per day, while crude oil imports increased by 277,000 barrels to exceed 7 million barrels per day. Exports decreased by 35,000 barrels to 3.96 million barrels per day.