Oil Halts Slide as Fuel Stocks Plunge Ahead of Driving Season

Oil rallied as the European Union continued to haggle with holdouts over a Russian crude ban while a US government report showed fuel inventories plunging ahead of the summer driving season.

West Texas Intermediate futures rebounded over $5 on Wednesday, halting a two-day slide in which futures shed more than $10. On Wednesday, Hungary said it will only agree to a ban on Russian imports if shipments via pipelines are excluded. In the US, the Energy Information Administration reported that distillate inventories fell to the lowest since May 2005.