U.S. crude-oil futures rose more than $1, helped by robust distillate heating oil demand amid a winter blast in U.S. and Europe and as the energy market focused on possible supply disruptions because of tough U.S. sanctions on Russian petroleum exports.
February Nymex February West Texas Intermediate crude contracts rose about $1.90 to $79.40/bbl on Wednesday and March WTI was $1.75 higher at $78.15/bbl.
London-based ICE Brent for March delivery jumped around $1.50 to $81.40/bbl and April Brent climbed $1.35 to $80.25/bbl.
The most actively traded March Nymex ULSD contract surged 6cts to $2.559/gal and the front-month February ULSD futures were up 7.05cts to $2.5955/gal.
March RBOB increased about 5cts to $2.1845/gal and February RBOB gained 5.4cts to $2.1585/gal.
A winter blast that has blanketed a large swath of the U.S. with bitter cold is expected to last for another two weeks through the end of January. Texas and many states in the South have seen unusually low temperatures which typically triggers a surge in distillate demand for heating homes and businesses.
The International Energy Agency said in its monthly report that current U.S. sanctions on Russia and Iran could tighten crude and product balances, as they affect entities that operated over a third of Russian and Iranian crude exports last year.
In addition, the IEA still expects oil demand growth to accelerate this year on lower prices and an improving economic outlook in developed countries.
Similarly, OPEC in its monthly forecast stuck to its oil demand forecast for this year and projected stable growth in petroleum consumption into 2026.
The market has now digested the latest weekly data by the Energy Information Administration, which showed another drawdown in U.S. crude-oil stocks last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories increased solidly.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
-- Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-15-25 1243ET