Energy prices inched up to a 7-month high, with a widely observed oil exchange traded fund (ETF) trading back above its long-term trend line, after a significant pullback in crude inventories.
On Wednesday, the United States Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO), which tracks West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, rose 1.1% and the United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSEArca: BNO), which tracks Brent crude oil futures, increased 1.2%. USO also moved above its resistance at the 200-day simple moving average while BNO has been trading above its long-term trend for some time. Year-to-date, USO gained 7.5% and BNO advanced 22.3%.
Related: 32 Best ETFs to Track Crude Oil
Meanwhile, WTI crude oil futures were 1.2% higher to $49.2 per barrel and Brent crude was up 1.6% to $49.4 per barrel.
Crude oil prices bounced higher after the Energy Information Administration revealed that U.S. crude stockpiles dipped by 4.23 million barrels, or twice what analysts projected, reports Mark Shenk for Bloomberg.
“It’s nice to see a draw of that size,” Matt Sallee, a manager at Tortoise Capital Advisors, told Bloomberg. “Overall U.S. supplies should show a steady decline through the late summer. The data should be pretty bullish going forward.”
[related_stories]