Crude oil prices gained slightly on Wednesday, extending multi-year highs supported by an improved demand outlook as accelerating COVID-19 vaccinations helped lift travel restrictions in Europe and the US. On the supply side, OPEC+ agreed to keep to their plan to gradually ease supply curbs through July, signalling the ongoing strengthening of market fundamentals. Also, expectations for more Iranian crude exports faded after Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran’s nuclear talks are unlikely to conclude before Iran’s presidential elections. Meantime, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that stocks of crude oil in the US plunged by 8.537 million barrels in the week ended June 11th of 2021, the biggest draw since the week ended on September 11th, 2020. On Tuesday, Brent crude added $1.24 or 1.67% to $74.46 to its highest levels since April 2019, while WTI crude rose $1.24, or 1.8%, to settle at $72.12 a barrel, its highest since October 2018.
