Brent crude futures gained 7 cents to $84.84 a barrel at 0020 GMT. West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude was up 3 cents to $80.89 a barrel. Keeping prices from moving higher were concerns that potential increases in U.S. interest rates could dampen growth in the top oil-consuming country. The U.S. Federal Reserve likely has one more interest rate rise in store to fight inflation, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said.
Prices got a lift from an industry report showing that U.S.
crude stocks fell by about 2.68 million barrels in the week
ended April 14, according to market sources citing American
Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Gasoline inventories fell by about 1.02 million barrels,
while distillate stocks fell by about 1.9 million barrels,
according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorised to speak to media.
The official inventory report by the Energy Information
Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of
Energy, is due at 1430 GMT on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the economy of top crude oil importer China grew
by a faster-than-expected 4.5% in the first quarter, while the
country's oil refinery throughput rose to record levels in
March, data showed.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Kenneth
Maxwell)
