Crude Oil Prices Settle Higher Amid Massive Slump in U.S. Supplies

Investing.com – WTI crude oil prices settled higher Wednesday after data showed a large draw in U.S. crude stockpiles as imports fell sharply.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange for September delivery rose 1.1% to settle at $69.30 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, rose 0.65% to trade at $73.92 a barrel.

Inventories of U.S. crude fell by 6.147 million barrels for the week ended July 20, beating expectations for of 2.600 million barrels, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The unexpected build in crude supplies came as imports fell by 2.518m barrels a day (bpd), and exports rose by 1.222 million bpd, the EIA said.

Gasoline inventories – one of the products that crude is refined into – by 2.328 million barrels, topping expectations for a draw of 0.713 million barrels, while supplies of distillate – the class of fuels that includes diesel and heating oil – by 0.101 million barrels, against expectations for a build of 0.207 million barrels.

The draw in products came refinery activity fell to 93.8% of their capacity last week from 94.3% a week earlier, with inputs averaging about 17.3 million barrels per day during, up 46,000 barrels from the prior week, the EIA said.

Falling U.S. crude supplies comes as investors continued to weigh up the prospect of a shortage in global supplies as major oil producers raised output to counter the lower supplies from Iran and Venezuela.

Russia’s energy ministry revised higher its forecast for 2018 domestic crude oil output Wednesday after the OPEC/non-OPEC deal agreed last month eased curbs on production.

The loss of Iran crude has also supported sentiment on oil prices this week after President Donald Trump on Monday warned his Iranian counterpart, Hasan Rouhani, that threats against the U.S. would be met “with consequences few in history have suffered.”

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