Oil prices rise amid optimism about US demand prospects

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices rose during trading today, Nov. 20, amid optimism about the demand outlook in the United States following a larger-than-expected drop in US crude inventories last week.

Brent crude was trading up 0.25% at $63.67 a barrel, at 09:04 am Makkah time. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 0.35% to $59.66 a barrel.

Both benchmarks recovered slightly after falling more than 2% in the previous session, following a Reuters report that the US had informed Ukraine that it accepted a proposed framework to end the war with Russia that included relinquishing territory and some weapons, according to two sources familiar with the talks.

The US Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil inventories fell by 3.4 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 14, compared with expectations of a 603,000-barrel decline.

Gains in prices were limited by a rise in gasoline and distillate inventories for the first time in more than a month.