Oil climbs on solid demand outlook as market awaits fresh cues

Oil climbs on solid demand outlook as market awaits fresh cues

SINGAPORE - Oil prices rose on Wednesday after a drop in U.S. crude inventories reinforced OPEC's robust demand outlook, while the market awaited fresh updates on the Colonial Pipeline outage. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 29 cents, or 0.44%, to $65.57 a barrel at 0646 GMT, adding to a 36 cent rise on Tuesday. Brent crude futures climbed 31 cents, or 0.45% to $68.86 a barrel, adding to a 23 cent gain on Tuesday. "Oil markets maintained their wait-and-see approach to the noise and tail-chasing seen elsewhere overnight," Jeffrey Halley, OANDA senior market analyst, wrote in a Wednesday note. "The Colonial pipeline cyberattack saga is dragging on and is now causing material shortages in the Eastern United States." Gasoline stations from Florida to Virginia began running out of fuel on Tuesday as drivers rushed to top up their tanks and pump prices rocketed. U.S. unleaded gasoline prices hit an average $2.99 a gallon, the highest since November 2014, the American Automobile Association said. "While a prolonged outage would be supportive for refined product prices, it could start to weigh on crude oil prices, if refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast are forced to reduce run rates due