DTN Oil Update
Oil Gains on US Crude Draw, Iraq Supply Disruption
VIENNA (DTN) -- Oil prices edged higher Thursday morning after a series of drone strikes on oilfields in northern Iraq have so far shut in some 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil production. In the United States, an Energy Information Administration report revealed a sizable drawdown in commercial crude oil inventories but builds to fuel stocks.
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NYMEX-traded WTI for August delivery rose $0.37 to trade near $66.75 barrel (bbl), and ICE Brent for September delivery added $0.18 bbl to $68.70 bbl.
August RBOB gasoline futures gained $0.0107 to $2.1547 gallon, and the front-month ULSD futures contract rose $0.0259 to trade near $2.4174 gallon.
The U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.345 points to 98.420.
Drone attacks on Kurdish oilfields continued for a fourth day on Thursday. Local government officials reported damaged infrastructure and halted production, estimating some 150,000 bpd of shut-in output as of Wednesday, more than half of the Kurdistan region's total crude oil output. Oil from northern Iraq has not been flowing to global markets since a dispute between Ankara, Baghdad and Erbil halted flows on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline two years ago, feathering the impact to futures prices.
Last week's 3.9-million-barrel draw reported by the EIA on Wednesday, meanwhile, left domestic commercial crude oil stocks 4% below year-ago levels and 8% below the five-year average. Builds to gasoline and diesel inventories, however, moderated the crude oil draw's bullish impact.