Oil Prices Rise On Huge Inventory Drawdown
(RTTNews) - Oil prices traded higher on Wednesday after industry data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude stocks last week.
Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.7 percent to $85.50 per barrel, while WTI crude futures were up 0.8 percent at $82.01.
According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), U.S. oil inventories fell by 15.4 million barrels in the week ended July 28, adding to signs the market is tightening.
The API report also pointed to another drop in crude holdings at the key storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, as well as declines in inventories of gasoline and distillate last week.
The dollar was little changed as investors shrugged off Fitch's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, citing fiscal deterioration and repeated debt ceiling standoffs.
Fitch Ratings downgraded the U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA+, citing high debt burden at the federal, state, and local levels and a concerning decline in governance standards over the last two decades.
The downgrade mainly reflects governance and medium-term fiscal challenges, but does not reflect new fiscal information, Goldman Sachs said.
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