Crude Oil Prices Shrug Off Surprise Inventory Build to Settle Higher

Investing.com – Crude oil prices settled higher as data showing an unexpected build in crude supplies was offset by record exports of crude last week.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange for June delivery rose 35 cents to settle at $68.05 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, rose 0.05% to trade at $73.89 a barrel.

Inventories of U.S. crude unexpectedly rose by 2.170 million barrels for the week ended April 20, confounding expectations for of 1.6 million barrels, according to data from the EIA.

The unexpected build in crude supplies was offset by a sharp uptick in crude exports to 2.331 million barrels last week, up more than 30% from 1.749 million barrels the prior week.

Gasoline inventories – one of the products that crude is refined into – by 0.840 million barrels, missing expectations for a decline of 0.625 million barrels, while supplies of distillate – the class of fuels that includes diesel and – by 2.611 million barrels, beating expectations for a draw of 0.861 million barrels.

The build in crude and gasoline supplies is expected to be a negative for oil prices over the longer term as it keeps the market in a supply surplus, National Alliance said Wednesday.

US output, meanwhile, continued its expansion rising 46,000 barrels per day to 10.6 million barrels per day, maintaining the United States’ position as the world’s second largest producer behind Russia.

Global crude supplies, however, have mostly weathered the ramp up in U.S. production as OPEC-led production curbs trimmed the glut in supplies raising expectations for rebalancing in the oil market.

In November 2016, OPEC and other producers, including Russia agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to slash global inventories to the five year-average. The OPEC-led deal was renewed last year through 2018.

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