Oil settles up after US crude stocks fall, Fed's 2025 outlook curbs gains
(Reuters) - Oil prices settled higher on Wednesday after U.S. crude inventories...
(Reuters) - Oil prices settled higher on Wednesday after U.S. crude inventories fell and the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates as expected, but gains were capped as the Fed signalled it would slow the pace of cuts.
Brent futures closed up 20 cents, or 0.27%, to $73.39 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled up 50 cents, or 0.71%, to $70.58. Both benchmarks retreated from more than $1 a barrel gains at session highs.
U.S. crude stocks and distillate inventories fell while gasoline inventories rose in the week ending Dec. 13, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, was 20.8 million barrels per day, up 662,000 bpd from the prior week.
Dow ends down more than 1,100 points after Fed's hawkish interest-rate outlook
U.S. stocks finished lower on Wednesday, with the Dow...
U.S. stocks finished lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its worst day in over four months after the Federal Reserve decided to lower its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points but reduced its forecast for further rate cuts in 2025.
The Dow Jones fell 1,123.03 points, or 2.6%, to end at 42,326.87. The blue-chip index fell for a 10th straight session, logging its longest losing streak since October 1974, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The S&P 500 was off 178.45 points, or nearly 3%, to finish at 5,872.16. The large-cap index suffered its largest one-day point decline since 2020 and its largest one-day percentage fall since Aug. 5, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 716.37 points, or nearly 3.6%, ending at 19,392.69. It was the largest one-day percentage drop for the tech-heavy index since July 24, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
US crude oil stockpiles retreated by 4.7 million barrels last week, exceeding analysts' expectations of a 1.85-million-barrel drop, American Petroleum Institute data show. In contrast, gasoline and distillate inventories gained 2.4 million and 700,000 barrels, respectively, but remain 4% below the five-year seasonal average.
AI boom continues to create challenges for US energy
Power demand is poised to increase by nearly 16% over the next five years,...
Power demand is poised to increase by nearly 16% over the next five years, per Grid Strategies, and utilities are scrambling to keep up with data center demands while keeping the energy transition on track. New generation and transmission assets can take 10 years to build and some utilities have already begun rolling back fossil fuel plant closures to ensure reliability.
DOE study highlights risks of unchecked LNG expansion
The Energy Department's newly released analysis of the environmental...
The Energy Department's newly released analysis of the environmental and economic impacts of US liquefied natural gas exports warns that unrestricted growth could lift domestic gas prices by up to 30%, sideline renewable energy and increase global emissions. While Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm argued that current export capacity is enough to satisfy long-term global demand, American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers called for an end to the LNG permitting pause, claiming it undermines energy security and US energy leadership.
