WTI Holds Gains After 6th Straight Weekly Crude Draw

Oil prices dumped and pumped overnight, testing below $73 and above $74, amid API inventory data, and OPEC+ headlines.

“OPEC countries are cautious with regard to output-increase strategy amid oil market challenges,” Kuwait’s Oil Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Any decision the organization will take will be in the interests of producers and consumers.”

Bloomberg Intelligence Energy Analyst Fernando Valle notes that despite last week’s massive draws in crude-oil and gasoline inventories, crude prices have stayed relatively flat, signaling some skepticism with the breadth of the recovery. Inventories in China and the Middle East remain elevated, which may contribute to concerns for North American markets. Without a rebound in refined product exports, we believe that refiners are unlikely to increase output in the short term.

API

• Crude -8.153mm (-4.7mm exp)

• Cushing -1.318mm

• Gasoline +2.418mm (-700k exp)

• Distillates +428k (+100k exp)

DOE

• Crude -6.718mm (-4.7mm exp)

• Cushing -1.46mm

• Gasoline +1.522mm (-700k exp)

• Distillates -869k (+100k exp)

Analysts correctly predicted a 6th straight week of crude draws (but the official data was smaller than API) and gasoline stocks unexpectedly rose.,..

Source: Bloomberg

US crude production remains shockingly disciplined as rig counts and prices continue to rise…

Source: Bloomberg

WTI hovered between $73 and $74 ahead of the print and barely budged after…

“The choice OPEC+ now faces is whether to consolidate those gains and allow prices to stabilize, or to let prices rise further, attracting mounting ire from consumers,” analysts at Standard Chartered Plc, including Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, said in a note Tuesday.