Crude Oil Prices Settle Higher, Notching a 2 1/2-Year High
Oil priced settled quite higher than usual on Thursday, with Brent crude extending its rise to the highest price since October 2018.
Analysts said crude remains underpinned by data showing demand outpacing supply. The Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude inventories fell by 7.6 million barrels for the week ended June 18.
That marked the fifth consecutive decline reported by the EIA.
As for domestic gasoline, supplies fell by 2.9 million barrels last week while distillate inventories, which include heating oil, rose by 1.8 million barrels.
On Thursday, July gasoline RBN21, -0.07% added 0.6% at $2.28 a gallon, logging the highest front-month settlement since October 2014. July heating oil HON21, -0.55% rose 0.1% to $2.16 a gallon, the highest since November 2018.
Meanwhile, a report released by the EIA showed that U.S. natural-gas supplies rose 55 billion cubic feet for the week ended June 18. On average, analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast an increase of 63 billion cubic feet in natural-gas stocks.
