By Nicole Jao
(Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Wednesday on signs of weakening production in the U.S. and higher demand in Europe and China as buyers emerged after prices fell to new lows earlier in the week.
Brent crude futures gained 37 cents a barrel, or 0.6%, to $62.52 a barrel by 1215 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $59.53 a barrel, up 44 cents, or 0.74%.
Both benchmarks had plunged to a four-year low after OPEC+’s decision to speed up output increases, which stoked fears of oversupply at a time when U.S. tariffs have spurred concerns about demand.
However, lower oil prices in recent weeks have prompted some U.S. energy firms like Diamondback Energy and Coterra Energy to announce that they would cut some rigs, which analysts said should over time increase prices by reducing output.
The latest announcements suggested output will weaken in the coming months, said ANZ bank senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes. “We warned last month that falling prices and declining drilling activity was raising the risk of U.S. oil output falling.”
Crude stocks fell by 4.5 million barrels in the week ended May 2, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. [API/S]
U.S. government data on stockpiles is due at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT). Analysts polled by Reuters expect, on average, an 800,000 barrel decline in U.S. crude oil stocks for last week. [EIA/S]
Prices also drew support from signs of demand improving. Consumers in China increased spending during the May Day celebration and as market participants returned after the five-day holiday.
In Europe, companies are expected to report growth of 0.4% in first-quarter earnings, improvement over the 1.7% drop analysts had expected a week ago.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday as tariffs roil the economic outlook.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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