Crude oil futures ticked up slightly July 23, ending higher for the fourth consecutive day on optimism that global production increases would fall short of a demand recovery. Front-month NYMEX WTI rose by 16 cents to settle at $72.07/b, while ICE September Brent picked jumped 31 cents to settle at $74.10/b. In refined products, NYMEX front-month RBOB added 1.81 cents to settle at $2.2913/gal, while ULSD tacked on 13 points to $2.1339/gal. NYMEX front-month crude remained up well more than $5/b since July 19, when prices tumbled $5.39/b primarily on concerns of rising production and fears that the spread of the coronavirus delta variant would hamper global economic recovery. “Vaccines are proving instrumental in preventing severe cases of […]