UPDATE 8-Oil hits 6-wk high on inventory data, OPEC compliance, Iran worries
March 21 (Reuters) – Oil hit a six-week high on Wednesday, closing in on a 3-year peak set in late January, on a surprise decline in U.S. inventories, strong compliance on OPEC production cuts, and persistent concern related to the Iran nuclear deal.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose $2.05, or 3 percent, to settle at $69.47, nearly a 7-week high.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 gained $1.63, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $65.17, their highest since Feb. 2.
Those increases put both benchmarks into technically overbought territory for the first time since January, and boosted the premium of the Brent front-month over WTI to its highest since the start of February WTCLc1-LCOc1 .
Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday morning showed a surprise 2.6 million barrel draw in crude inventories. Analysts had expected a 2.5 million barrel build. EIA/S
for contact:
8006006296/ 8006707020
www.foxcommodities.co
