Crude oil prices staged a rally in early Wednesday trading as strong U.S. economic figures balanced against a build in national oil and gas inventories.

The American Petroleum Institute reported after the close of trading Tuesday that its data show U.S. crude oil inventories gained 38,000 barrels last week and gasoline inventories increased by 21,000 barrels.

A survey of analysts earlier this week from S&P Global Platts revealed uncertainty for U.S. crude oil inventories, a loose gauge of broad-based demand. The commodity pricing group reported that some of its respondents were anticipating a drain of 3 million barrels or more, while others were expecting a bit of an increase.

"While still ahead of the market expectations, I guess market participants probably prefer to wait for the official data from the EIA later today," Giovanni Staunovo, a commodity analyst and chief investment officer at Swiss bank UBS, said in response to questions emailed from UPI.

Staunovo added it didn't make sense to make a bet in lower oil prices given the expectation that hundreds of thousands of barrels will be sidelined from a market with little room for shocks when U.S. sanctions hit Iran in November.

The price for Brent crude oil, the global benchmark for the price of oil, was up 0.8 percent as of 9:15 a.m. EDT to $76.90 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was up 0.96 percent to $69.19 per barrel.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration releases its data on domestic inventories at 10:30 a.m. A drain would push the price of oil higher, though EIA data so far in August has surprised the markets with sizeable gains to cause big drops in the price of oil on Wednesdays so far this month.

Gains in the price of oil were supported by strong second quarter figures for the U.S. economy. The U.S. Commerce Department reported second quarter gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 4.2 percent, slightly above the previous estimate of 4.1 percent.

On a quarterly rate, real GDP increased 1.8 percent in the second quarter, compared with 3.9 percent in the first quarter.

Markets may be muted for the rest of the week ahead of the long U.S. Labor Day holiday.

Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Brazil deploys military to boost security at Venezuela border
Brasilia (AFP) Aug 29, 2018
Brazilian President Michel Temer signed a decree Tuesday to send the army to "guarantee law and order" on the border with crisis-hit Venezuela after recent violent clashes. Earlier this month, more than a thousand homeless Venezuelan immigrants who had flooded over the border into Brazil's northwestern Roraima state were driven back by an angry mob that rampaged through their makeshift tent following rumours a local shopkeeper had been brutally beaten by migrants. Temer said his measure was aime ... read more