Oil achieves gains for the third day on supply concerns

Oil prices rose for a third day in early Asian trade on Wednesday, as the suspension of some exports from Iraqi Kurdistan raised concerns about tight supply, and market sentiment improved as fears of a banking crisis subsided.

Brent crude futures rose 42 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $79.07 a barrel by 0046 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 59 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $73.79 a barrel.

Oil prices rose after Iraq was forced to stop exporting about 450,000 barrels per day from the northern Iraqi Kurdistan region via Turkey, after a ruling in an arbitration case confirmed that Baghdad’s approval was necessary to ship the oil.

First Citizens Bankers’ announcement on Monday that it would take over the deposits and loans of the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank sparked optimism about the state of the banking sector.

Prices were also supported by a drawdown in US crude oil inventories last week.

Market sources cited figures released by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday, saying that US crude oil inventories fell by about 6.1 million barrels in the week ending March 24. Gasoline stocks fell by about 5.9 million barrels, while distillate stocks rose by about 550 thousand barrels.