RIYADH: Crude oil prices rebounded on Wednesday as demand recovery hopes in top importer China following its exit from COVID-19 pandemic curbs provided support after prices dropped in the previous session on concerns about global economic growth. Brent crude futures gained 26 cents, or 0.30 percent, to $86.39 per barrel at 08.00 a.m. Saudi time after falling 2.3 percent in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 20 cents, or 0.25 percent, to $80.33 per barrel, having dropped 1.8 percent on Tuesday. US crude inventories up 3.4 million barrels last week: API Meanwhile, a report from American Petroleum Institute showed that US crude inventories rose by 3.378 million barrels during the week ended Jan. 20. The crude build happened as refiners slowed down the output of fuel products, amid an unseasonably warm winter. The inventory report by API suggested a 0.620-million-barrel rise in gasoline stocks for last week and a 1.929-million-barrel deficit in distillate stockpiles. BNP Paribas to slash oil lending by 80 percent by 2030, fund renewables French bank BNP Paribas on Tuesday pledged to slash the money it has outstanding with the oil extraction and production industries to less than one billion euros ($1.1 billion) by 2030, an 80 percent decline from its current balance of five billion euros. The lender said it stopped financing oil projects back in 2016, but Tuesday’s commitment will accelerate the pace at which it reduces outstanding financing for oil extraction and production as part of its efforts to curb carbon emissions and meet climate goals. It also hiked its target for outstanding financing for the production of “low-carbon, primarily renewable, energies” to 40 billion euros by 2030, up from an earlier goal of 30 billion euros by 2025. The bank will also cut outstanding financing for gas extraction and production by more than 30 percent by 2030, BNP Paribas said in a press release. (With input from Reuters)