Oil jumps to one-week high on US inventories drop

Oil prices rose today for the fourth straight day, to the highest level in a week, after am unexpected drop in US oil inventories, in addition to Saudi Arabia's exports falling in June.

As of 09:45 GMT, WTI rose to $56.65 a barrel from the opening of $56.10, with a high of $56.73 (highest in a week), and a low of $56.08.

Brent rose to $60.80 a barrel from the opening of $60.12, with a high of of $60.88( highest in a week), and a low of $60.08.

WTI rose by 0.1% yesterday, and Brent futures rose by 0.5%, their third daily gain, as the concerns about the US-China trade war eased.

The American Petroleum Institute showed yesterday in preliminary data that the US oil inventories fell by 3.5 million barrels during the week ending in August 16th, low than forecasts of 1.9 million.

This drop is the 9th weekly in two and a half months, which is a sign of high demand in the United States.

While the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release today the official data on inventories and production levels in its weekly report, with forecasts of a decline by 1.4 million barrels.

Saudi Arabia revealed that its crude oil exports fell in June, while a Saudi oil official earlier this month told Reuters that Saudi Arabia plans to keep its crude oil exports below 7 million barrels per day in August and September to stabilize global oil inventories.