WTI drifts higher to near $73.00 on rising Israel-Iran tension

• WTI price edges higher to around $73.00 in Thursday's early Asian session.
• Trump privately approved attack plans for Iran pending a final order.
• US Crude Oil Inventories fell the most in one year, according to the EIA.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $73.00 during the Asian trading hours on Thursday. The WTI price edges higher amid fears that the Israel-Iran crisis could spiral into a broader conflict involving the United States (US).

US President Trump said late Tuesday that he approved of attack plans for Iran but held them to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program, per the Wall Street Journal. Trump emphasized his insistence on Iran's unconditional surrender, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected the US demand. Analysts said direct US involvement would widen the conflict, putting energy infrastructure in the region at higher risk of attack. This, in turn, could boost the WTI price in the near term.

US Crude Inventories posted a massive draw last week. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly report showed crude oil stockpiles in the US for the week ending June 13 fell sharply by 11.473 million barrels, compared to a decline of 3.644 million barrels in the previous week. The market consensus estimated that stocks would decrease by 2.3 million barrels.

Nonetheless, the expectations of lower demand might cap the upside for the WTI. In its monthly oil report on Tuesday, the International Energy Agency (EIA) revised its world oil demand estimate downwards by 20,000 barrels per day from last month's forecast and increased the supply estimate by 200,000 bpd to 1.8 million bpd.