Crude oil rises as U.S. inventories fell for third straight week (NYSEARCA:USO)

Crude oil futures rose on Wednesday, snapping a three-session losing streak, after the United States reported a much larger-than-expected draw in crude inventories last week, marking a third straight decline.

the Crude inventories fell by 4.9 million barrels. It was accompanied by Gasoline and diesel stocks rose as refineries continued to operate at elevated levels despite lower energy use on the Gulf Coast where Hurricane Beryl made landfall early last week.

Gasoline demand fell to 8.8 million barrels per day after the July 4 holiday week, compared with 9.4 million barrels per day in each of the previous two weeks.

The week following the holiday may have seen “decreases in overall travel demand, which supported increases in distillates and gasoline as flows remained healthy,” said Gary Cunningham, director of market research at Tradition Energy. Market monitoring.

Meanwhile, energy stocks rose.New York: Canada: XLE) rose as traders returned to sectors that had lagged in recent months.

“Energy has now reversed some of the weakness seen in June versus oil, but declining inflation expectations and crude stocks have led to limited interest from new investors,” Morgan Stanley analysts said.

NYMEX Crude Oil (CL1:COM) August delivery contract expired in the first month +2.6% to $82.85 a barrel, the biggest daily increase since June 10. Brent crude (CO1:COM) settled at $82.85 a barrel in September. +1.6% to $85.08 per barrel.

U.S. Natural Gas (NG1:COM) endured another session of extreme stability, with the August monthly contract closing -7% to $2.035/MMBtu, its lowest settlement since May 2.

Exchange-traded funds:NYSEARCA: Use), (BNO), (UCO), (SCO), (USL), (DBO), (DRIP), (GUSH), (NRGU), (USOI), (UNG), (BOIL), (KOLD), (UNL), (FCG)

Bearish factors include lower temperatures in the near-term weather forecast, slowing LNG exports, and abundant production. Continued pressure on the natural gas marketThe combination has “stopped the shrinkage of excess storage that was a major source of support during May through early June,” analysts at Ritterbusch said, according to Dow Jones.

“Although net short speculative positions are already in bullish territory, there appears to be additional room for further speculative selling,” Ritterbusch wrote.