The price of intermediate oil from Texas (WTI) rose 0.8% on Wednesday to close at US$77.69 a barrel driven by the rebound in manufacturing activity in China and despite a larger-than-expected increase in US crude oil reserves.
At the close of business in New York, a barrel of WTI for April delivery added 64 cents from the close of the previous session, when it had already risen nearly 2%.
According to analysts, the price of crude oil was favored by data released today in China, where activity in the manufacturing sector grew strongly in February, fueling expectations of higher energy demand from the world’s largest oil importer.
In London, the price of Brent oil, a benchmark in Europe, also increased today for this reason, in this case by 0.51%, up to US$84.30.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the weekly figures for crude oil reserves were released, which grew by 1.2 million, a figure above what was forecast by experts and which represents the tenth consecutive increase.
However, it is the smallest weekly rise in five weeks and the data did not seem to affect the price of oil negatively.
On the other hand, natural gas futures for April added 6 cents to US$2.81, and gasoline futures due the same month gained 3 cents to hold at US$2.67.