Oil prices nudged higher on Wednesday on rising tensions over Iran, a sharp fall in US crude stocks and positive signs on Sino-US talks, although worries about weak demand kept a cap on gains.
Brent crude futures were up 21 cents, or 0.3 per cent, at $64.04 a barrel by 0719 GMT, after rising nearly 1 per cent on Tuesday. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 28 cents, or 0.5 per cent, at $57.05 a barrel, having risen about 1 per cent in the previous session.
US crude stocks fell more than expected in the week to July 19, declining by 11 million barrels to 449 million, the trade group American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday. That compared with analysts’ expectations of a decrease of 4 million barrels.
