Crude oil prices ticked higher today after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an inventory decline of 3.7 million barrels for the week to July 19.
This compared with an inventory draw of 4.9 million barrels estimated by the EIA for the previous week. The American Petroleum Institute, meanwhile, on Tuesday estimated another inventory draw in crude oil for the week to July 19, at 3.9 million barrels.
In fuels, the EIA reported more draws.
Gasoline stocks shed 5.6 million barrels in the week to July 19, with production averaging 10.2 million barrels daily.
This compared with a build of 3.3 million barrels for the previous week, when production averaged 9.5 million barrels daily.
In middle distillates, the agency estimated an inventory decline of 2.8 million barrels for the week to July 19, with production averaging 4.9 million barrels daily.
This compared with an inventory build of 3.5 million barrels for the previous week, when production averaged 5.2 million barrels daily.
Oil prices, meanwhile, moved higher on Tuesday, following the American Petroleum Institute’s report and continuing wildfires in Canada’s oil heartland, Alberta. Some of the fires have forced oil producers to curb production, affecting prices positively, ING’s Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note.
“Oil supply risks from wildfires in Canada continue to grow. While wildfires have already forced some producers to curtail production, these fires still threaten a large amount of supply,” they said.
The analysts noted lukewarm Chinese oil demand as a bearish factor but added that “the market is nearing oversold territory and we still believe that the fundamentals support prices moving higher from current levels over the remainder of the third quarter on the back of a deficit environment.”
At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $81.35 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate changing hands at $77.37 per barrel, both up from opening.
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By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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