U.S. Crude Oil Pares Gains After Bigger-Than-Expected Inventory Build

Investing.com – oil inventories rose more than expected last week, paring earlier price gains as the larger-than-forecast build reinforced concerns of oversupply.

The EIA data showed that increased by 4.85 million barrels in the week to Nov. 16.

That was compared to forecasts for a stockpile build of 2.50 million barrels, after a build of 10.27 million barrels in the previous week.

The EIA report also showed that fell by 1.30 million barrels, compared to expectations for a draw of 0.2 million barrels, while dropped by just 0.08 million barrels, compared to forecasts for a decrease of 2.75 million.

were trading up 1.22% to $54.08 a barrel by 10:36 AM ET (15:36 GMT), compared to $54.50 prior to the publication.

London-traded were up 0.50% to $62.84 a barrel, compared to $63.34 ahead of the release.

After a 7% slide the previous day, oil prices had already been bouncing back prior to the report after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. remains a “steadfast partner” with Saudi Arabia despite the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

On Tuesday, Trump released a statement in which he signalled that his administration would not take strong action against Saudi Arabia for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia… After the US, Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world. They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels – so important for the world,” Trump said in the statement.

Reports cited Trump as saying outside the White House on the same day, “If we broke with them [Saudi Arabia], I think your oil prices would go through the roof.”

On Wednesday, the president thanked Saudi Arabia for the recent decline in prices and urged even cheaper oil.

OPEC members are set to meet on Dec. 6 in Vienna, with a production cut expected to be agreed with non-OPEC members led by Russia in order to prop up the recent sharp selloff. Recent reports suggested that the cartel had moved from considering a reduction of 1 million barrels per day to 1.4 million.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.