LONDON: Oil prices edged higher on Thursday as investors remained cautious about the Iran-Israel ceasefire and shifted their attention to market fundamentals after a stock draw in the United States.
Brent crude futures were up 52 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $68.20 a barrel at 3:10 p.m. Saudi time. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 67 cents, or 1 percent, to $65.59 a barrel.
Both benchmarks climbed nearly 1 percent on Wednesday, recovering from losses earlier in the week after data showed resilient US demand. Brent futures are trading below their close of $69.36 on June 12, the day before Israel started airstrikes on Iran.
Investors are shifting their focus to macroeconomics and oil balances, while monitoring the Israel-Iran truce, said PVM analyst Tamas Varga.
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said oil prices had tracked equity markets so far on Thursday, while ANZ analysts said the US driving season had started slowly but was now stoking demand.
US crude oil and fuel inventories fell in the week to June 20 as refining activity and demand rose, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 5.8 million barrels, the EIA said, exceeding analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 797,000-barrel draw.
Gasoline stocks unexpectedly fell by 2.1 million barrels, compared with forecasts for a 381,000-barrel build as gasoline supplied, a proxy for demand, rose to its highest level since December 2021.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump hailed the swift end to war between Iran and Israel and said Washington would likely seek a commitment from Tehran to end its nuclear ambitions at talks with Iranian officials next week.
Trump also said on Wednesday that the US was maintaining maximum pressure on Iran — including restrictions on sales of Iranian oil — but signalled a potential easing in enforcement to help the country rebuild.
“(The) rapid push for a ceasefire suggests that President Trump remains sensitive to high oil prices, in our view, potentially capping the geopolitical risk premium even as the conflict may linger,” Citi said in a note on Thursday.
