Oil prices climbed on Wednesday, paring losses set last week, after data showed Chinese economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter and the country’s implied oil demand rose to its highest since the beginning of 2013.
The improving economic outlook in the world’s second largest economy and oil consumer offset downward pressure on oil from easing concern about supply disruptions from violence in the Middle East.
- On the New York Mercantile Exchange, Crude Oil added 0.61% to trade at $100.57 a barrel
- On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent Oil was at $106.38 a barrel, up by 0.34%
Data released earlier in the day showed China’s economy grew 7.5 percent in the three months ending June from a year ago, slightly above expectations and up from 7.4 percent in the first quarter.
A separate report showed China’s implied oil demand rose 2.6 percent compared with a year ago to 10.2-million barrels a day in June, the highest since January 2013.
In other NYMEX trading:
- NYMEX Gasoline gained 0.44% to trade at $291.14
- NYMEX Heating Oil added 0.15% to trade at $285.97
- NYMEX Natural Gas rose 0.05% to $4.099
The more closely watched weekly oil data from the United States Department of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due later on Wednesday.