Oil Prices Maintain Gains

Oil prices held onto most of the gains achieved yesterday in early trading on Thursday as markets assess a surprising drop in U.S. crude inventories against the potential for weaker demand after the Federal Reserve Chair hinted at further interest rate hikes. By 00:15 GMT, Brent crude futures fell eight cents, or 0.1%, to $77.04 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures declined five cents, or 0.1%, to $72.48. Both grades rose by $2 per barrel in the previous session, while corn and soybean prices in the U.S. reached their highest levels in several months, leading to expectations that their global shortages will reduce blending with biofuels and increase demand for oil. Supporting the market, U.S. crude inventories declined by about 1.2 million barrels in the week ending June 16, according to sources citing data from the American Petroleum Institute, compared to analysts' expectations of a 300,000-barrel increase. Official inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is set to be released later today. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell confirmed in testimony before Congress that the central bank's goal is to rein in inflation, stating that "a 25 basis point rate hike at the end of the year is a very good guess."