HOUSTON: Oil prices rose slightly on Wednesday, reacting to stronger-than-expected inventory and largely shrugging off a new wave of US attacks against Iranian military installations that aimed to limit Tehran’s ability to strike shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent futures settled at $84.95 a barrel, up 22 cents, or 0.26 per cent. West Texas Intermediate futures finished at $79.60 a barrel, up 26 cents, or 0.33pc.

The US Energy Inform­ation Admini­stration reported a 1.7-million-barrel drop in US crude inventory last week, less than a forecast draw of 2.6m barrels. “There seems to be a sense that we’ve seen this movie before,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group, referring to hostilities in the Middle East.

“There’s a sense in that EIA report the supplies instead of evaporating are stabilizing,” he added.

The EIA also reported a build in distillates of 4.6m barrels last week compared to a forecast increase of 100,000 barrels.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2026