Oil prices rose for a second day on Wednesday on signs of strong demand from refineries in China, the world’s second-largest crude user, amid tightening supply as producers curtail output and as oil inventories in the United States fell unexpectedly. International benchmark Brent crude oil futures rose 21 cents, or 0.29 percent, to $71.93 a barrel by 0319 GMT. Brent gained as much 0.5 percent to 72.08 a barrel, the highest since Nov. 8 and the highest this year. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.45 per barrel, up 40 cents, or 0.6 percent from their previous settlement. “Crude oil futures edged up as market sentiments were buoyed by a surprise drawdown in US crude oil inventories and tighter market fundamentals in the current term,” said Benjamin Lu, commodities analyst at Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Futures. China’s refinery throughput in March rose 3.2 percent from a year earlier to 53.04 million tons, or 12.49 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday. The steady demand growth in China is occurring as a deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia, to limit their output by 1.2 million bpd in 2019 has curtailed global supplies. Crude oil supply has also declined in 2019 as the United States imposed economic sanctions on OPEC members Venezuela and Iran.
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