Oil Prices Extend Gains as Crude Stockpiles Rise Less Than Expected

Investing.com – Oil prices extended gains on Thursday in Asia for the third day after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly report showed crude stockpiles rose less than expected.

New York-traded were up 0.6% at $54.56 per barrel by 1:15 AM ET (06:15 GMT), after hitting a session peak of $54.92 on Wednesday. The last time WTI hit such highs was on Nov. 20.

London-traded , the global oil benchmark, were also up 0.8% at $62.06.

U.S. crude inventories rose 919,000 barrels for the week ended Jan. 25 while analysts expected an increase of 3.2 million barrels, the EIA said.

The gain in prices also came after the EIA report showed a drop in Saudi crude supply to the U.S. A Bloomberg chart on weekly U.S. crude imports showed the latest intake from Saudi Arabia at 442,000 barrels, the lowest since 2010.

“Crude oil prices were stronger after signs emerged that OPEC cuts are impacting trade. EIA’s weekly report showed that U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia fell by more than half from the previous week to 442,000 barrels per day (bpd). This is the second lowest level in weekly data going back to 2010,” ANZ bank said in a CNBC report.

Elsewhere, U.S. sanctions imposed on Venezuela’s state-oil firm PDVSA this week are also causing some supply disruptions and were cited as supportive for oil prices.

Meanwhile, Chinese PMI received some focus today after the National Bureau of Statistics showed China’s factory activity shrank for the second straight month.

The official (PMI) came in at 49.5 in January. The reading was slightly higher than the 49.4 in December, but still below the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction.

Meanwhile, the for January came in at 54.7, better than the 53.8 reported in the previous month.

The outcome of the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade talks that began on Wednesday is also expected to be an influencer on the oil market later this week.

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