Crude oil and gasoline prices rose on Wednesday, with gasoline hitting a 2-week high. Dollar weakness supported energy prices. Weekly EIA inventories showed larger-than-expected declines in crude and gasoline stocks. Progress in Ukraine peace talks could lead to fewer restrictions on Russian crude exports, limiting gains in crude prices.

President Trump is pushing for a summit between Putin and Zelenskiy, which could potentially end the Russian-Ukrainian war. This resolution may result in allowing Russian crude to trade freely and lifting sanctions on Russian energy exports, leading to bearish crude prices.

Concerns about increased OPEC production are impacting crude prices, with OPEC+ endorsing a 547,000 bpd output increase for September 1. OPEC+ aims to gradually restore 2.2 million bpd of production by September 2026, with 1.66 million bpd still offline. July crude production fell slightly to 28.31 million bpd.

A drop in crude oil stored on tankers worldwide is boosting oil prices. Vortexa reported a 12% weekly decline in stationary tanker oil storage to 82.49 million bbl. The weekly EIA report showed a larger-than-expected draw in crude and gasoline inventories but a build in distillate stockpiles and crude supplies at Cushing.

US crude oil inventories as of August 15 were below the seasonal 5-year average, with gasoline and distillate inventories also lower than average. US crude oil production rose slightly to 13.382 million bpd, just below the record high. Baker Hughes reported a stable number of active US oil rigs at 411, near a 3.75-year low.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Crude Oil Prices Climb as Weekly US EIA Inventories Decline