Oil prices up on China economic support pledge, tighter supply

By Katya Golubkova

TOKYO (Reuters) – Global oil prices rose on Wednesday, boosted by China’s pledge to support economic growth, tighter supply from Russia and on lower weekly {{8849|U.S. crcrude oil inventories.

futures rose 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $79.72 a barrel at 0010 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was steady at $75.75 per barrel.

China’s top economic planner pledged on Tuesday that it would roll out policies to “restore and expand” consumption in the world’s second-largest economy as consumers’ purchasing power remained weak.

Russia will reduce its oil exports by 2.1 million tons in the third quarter in line with planned voluntary export cuts of 500,000 barrels per day in August, according to the energy ministry.

“Crude oil gained amid signs of further tightening across the market. Russia appears to be making good on its promise to reduce supply,” ANZ Research said in a client note on Wednesday.

U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories all fell last week, according to market sources citing figures by American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, on Tuesday, with crude stocks down by about 800,000 barrels.

The market is expecting the weekly inventory report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration later on Wednesday which is expected to show further a drawdown in U.S. crude oil inventories, providing some more support to prices, ANZ’s note added.

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