Oil rises for third day on US fuel stocks draw, worries about Russia disruptions

By Nicole Jao

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices were up 1% and on course for a three-day gain on Thursday after data showed gasoline and distillate draw down in the U.S. while worries about supply disruptions in Russia supported prices.

Brent futures were up 75 cents, or 0.99%, at $76.79 a barrel by 1:00 p.m. EST (1800 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) for March delivery rose $1, or 1.38%, to $73.25.

More-actively traded April WTI contract gained 0.94% at $72.78 a barrel.

U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose slightly more than expected while fuel inventories fell last week as seasonal maintenance at refineries led to lower processing, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.

"The crude build was a bit larger than expected, but there was a modest draw in gasoline and larger draw in distillate, keeping total inventories flat," said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst with UBS.

Crude futures extended gains slightly following the report.

Russia and the U.S. have had their first meeting since the start of the Ukraine war, aimed at restoring relations and preparing the ground for ending the conflict.

However, disruptions to oil supply kept prices elevated.

Russia attacked Ukrainian gas infrastructure and damaged gas production facilities overnight, Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.

Russia said Caspian Pipeline Consortium oil flows, a major route for crude exports from Kazakhstan, were reduced by 30%-40% on Tuesday after a Ukraine drone attack on a pumping station.

Elsewhere, potential restarts of oil flows from Iraq's Kurdistan region were offsetting supply risks, analysts at ING said in a note.

Turkey, which hosts the port of Ceyhan that loads the Iraqi oil from the Kurdistan region, did not receive confirmation from Iraq on the resumption as of Thursday, the country's energy minister told Reuters.

A resumption of the Iraqi oil flows would add 300,000 barrels of supply per day onto the market, ING analysts said.

Import tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration could dent oil prices by raising the cost of consumer goods, analysts said, weakening the global economy and reducing fuel demand. Concerns about European and Chinese demand were also helping keep prices in check.

"It is natural to be concerned about the global economic outlook as Donald Trump takes a sledgehammer smashing away at the existing global 'free-trade structure' with signals of 25% tariffs on car imports to the U.S.," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB.

(Reporting by Nicole Jao, Enes Tunagur and Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Varun H K, Subhranshu Sahu, David Evans and Dee[a Babington)