Oil prices soar on US crude stock drop, Russian refinery attacks

NEW YORK — Oil prices rose about 3% to a four-month high on Wednesday on a surprise withdrawal in US crude inventories, a bigger-than-expected drop in US gasoline stocks and potential supply disruptions after Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries.

Brent futures rose $2.11 or 2.6% to settle at $84.03 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.16 or 2.8% to settle at $79.72.

That was the highest close for Brent since Nov. 6.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said energy firms pulled a surprise 1.5 million barrels of crude from stockpiles during the week ended March 8.

That compares with the 1.3-million-barrel build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and the 5.5-million-barrel withdrawal shown in data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group.

US gasoline futures RBc1, meanwhile, showed the biggest price increase across the energy complex, rising about 2.9% to their highest since September 2023 after EIA said energy firms pulled a much largerthan-expected 5.7 million barrels of gasoline from stockpiles last week.

That compares with the 1.9-million-barrel withdrawal from gasoline stocks that analysts forecast in a Reuters poll. That increase in gasoline prices boosted the gasoline- and and 321-crack spreads, which measure refining profit margins, to their highest since August and September 2023, respectively.

In Russia, Ukraine struck oil refineries in a second day of heavy drone attacks, causing a fire at Rosneft’s biggest refinery in what Russian President Vladimir Putin said was an attempt to disrupt his country’s presidential election this week.

Mr. Putin told the West that Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the US sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict. Mr. Putin, however, also said he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

The International Energy Agency, which expects demand growth to be much lower, updates its forecasts on Thursday.