Crude oil prices jumped more today, after the Energy Information Administration reported a 9.9 million barrel reduction in crude oil stock for the week through January 22.
Crude oil attracted compared to an increase of 4.4 million barrels in the previous week. It also compared to analysts’ expectations of a modest increase of around 600,000 barrels.
In gasoline, the authority reported an inventory increase of 2.5 million barrels in the week through January 22, with an average production of 8.7 million bpd. This compares to a modest inventory drop of 300,000 barrels and an average production of 8.9 million bpd in the previous week.
Average spirits poured 800,000 barrels last week, up from half a million barrels a week earlier. Average production was 4.5 million bpd for the second consecutive week.
The day before the EIA released its weekly oil report, the American Petroleum Institute released its own estimate for oil stocks, which was 5.272 million barrels. As this figure exceeded analysts’ expectations by a wide margin, oil prices rose slowly. Related: The 5 best public service actions in 2021
Prices were also supported by reports on possible disruptions to supplies from Iraq and Libya. The former said it plans to reduce production in line with its commitments under the OPEC + agreement, while exports from the latter are being threatened by the Petroleum Facilities Guard, which says it is owed wages.
Meanwhile, the IMF said it expects oil prices to average $ 50 a barrel this year, which would be significantly higher than the average for 2020, but below the average for 2019. Still, the The forecast was for an upward revision of the previous IMF forecast for oil prices, signaling that the market is improving, albeit slowly.
At the time of this writing, Brent oil was trading at $ 55.62 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate was changing hands at $ 52.27 a barrel. Both were down since the opening of trade today.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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