By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, July 5 -- International oil futures prices moved higher Wednesday in a correction from earlier lows after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided Tuesday against any production increase.
In London, the August contract for North Sea Brent crude finished at $25.80/bbl, up 44¢ for the day, after trading in the range of $25.50-$25.85/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange.
That market appeared to be consolidating around $25.50/bbl, without sufficient momentum to break resistance at $26/bbl, brokers reported.
The August natural gas contract also rose 6.2¢ to the equivalent of $2.56/Mcf on the IPE.
The average price for OPEC's basket of seven crudes gained 16¢ to $24.17/bbl Wednesday.
The New York Mercantile Exchange was closed Wednesday for the Independence Day holiday.
Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported US inventories of crude declined more than 3.9 million bbl last week to a total 309.5 million bbl.
US gasoline stocks also were down by 2.5 million bbl to 220.3 million bbl in all, while distillate fuels increased by almost 2 million bbl to 112.9 million total.
