WTI crude oil broke its losing streak on Thursday, as it closed 1.95% higher to settle at $75.39. Oil prices have been bolstered by Russia’s decision to slash oil exports from its Western ports by around 25% in March, exceeding its earlier announcement of production curbs of 500,000 barrels per day.
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Meanwhile, natural gas climbed 6.44% to close at $2.314. Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting minutes indicated that interest rates are likely to remain high for longer.
Citing data from American Petroleum Institute, U.S. crude oil and fuel inventories increased by 9.9 million barrels last week. The rise in U.S. oil inventories has stoked worries about falling demand. The official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that inventories increased by 7.648 million barrels compared to expectations of 2.083 million.
In addition, the U.S. Oil ETF (USO) is up by 2.14% at the time of writing. Here is a list of energy stocks that can be influenced by the latest developments in the energy markets.