(Bloomberg) -- Oil held a gain near $71 a barrel as trading volumes thinned moving into the holiday period, with an industry report pointing to another decline in U.S. crude inventories.
Futures in New York closed 3.7% higher on Tuesday after rallying with other financial assets following a two-day slump. The American Petroleum Institute reported crude stockpiles fell by 3.67 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the figures. If confirmed by government data later on Wednesday, it would be a fourth weekly draw.
Oil is poised to cap a yearly gain following a rebound from the pandemic, but the rally has faltered over the past couple of months in part due to demand concerns after the emergence of the omicron variant of the virus. There are some signs of softening consumption in Asia and the crude market structure has weakened significantly, indicating over-supply in the near term.
U.S. gasoline stockpiles increased by 3.7 million barrels last week, while crude inventories at the key storage hub of Cushing rose by 1.27 million barrels, the API reported on Tuesday. Distillate supplies declined.
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