Oil prices rose for a second day on Tuesday, supported by US plans to purchase oil for its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and by raging wildfires in Canada that fuelled supply worries.
A raft of weaker-than-expected Chinese data that suggested a soft economy failed to dampen prices, with the market instead focusing on higher refinery throughput in the world’s second-biggest oil consumer.
Brent crude futures climbed 30 cents, or 0.4%, to $75.53 a barrel by 0417 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $71.38 a barrel, up 27 cents, or 0.38%.
Both benchmarks rose more than 1% on Monday, reversing a 3-session losing streak. The US Department of Energy said on Monday it would buy 3 million barrels of crude oil for the SPR for delivery in August, and asked that offers be submitted by May 31.
“The market got a boost from expectations that the US repurchase of oil for the strategic reserve will continue if WTI prices fall near or below $70 a barrel,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities Co Ltd. “Behind the gain was also bargain-hunting by some investors after the recent sharp declines,” he said.
