Oil prices rise

NEW YORK. Oil prices rose yesterday, boosted by a record 10th straight weekly decline in U.S. crude inventories, though reduced refining activity and rising production signaled U.S. stocks should rise in coming weeks.

Overall crude inventories fell by 1.1 million barrels, short of expectations, but the 10-week streak of declines represents a record, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data going back to 1982. A weaker dollar also supported oil prices.

U.S. inventories fell to 411.6 million barrels, the lowest since February 2015. The steady draw has triggered record buying by speculators, pushing oil benchmarks to three-year highs.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 82 cents at $65.28, highest since December 2014, as of 11:09 a.m. EST. Brent futures rose 29 cents to $70.26 a barrel, the highest since December 2014.

“The market has rallied by 50 percent and a lot of investors have been involved for a long time,” said Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen.

U.S. production rose to 9.9 million barrels a day, nearing the all-time record of 10.04 million bpd set in 1970.

Refining capacity use declined by 2.1 percentage points as maintenance season began, though gasoline and diesel demand still exceeded year-ago levels. Reuters.