United States crude oil stockpiles dropped less than expected last week and marked the fourth-straight weekly draw, according to the Energy Information Administration (IEA) released on Wednesday.
Crude inventory dropped by 1.6 million barrels last week, falling short of expectations for a draw of 2.67 million barrels. Inventory declined by 4.5 million barrels the previous week.
The data from IEA follows the American Petroleum Institute’s own report, released on Tuesday. according to the report, last week’s inventory dropped more than 4.2 million barrels.
Crude stored at the Cushing, Oklahoma, facility dropped 607,000 barrels after rising 1.3 million barrels the previous week. Traders had expected a draw of 1.98 million, according to Investing.com
Oil prices are losing less than 1% as at 18:27GMT.
Brent crude is losing 0.62% and it is trading at $45.18 per barrel, while Western Texas Intermediate is down by 0.33%, trading at $42.75 per barrel.
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The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Crude Oil Inventories measures the weekly change in the number of barrels of commercial crude oil held by US firms. The level of inventories influences the price of petroleum products, which can have an impact on inflation.
If the increase in crude inventories is more than expected, it implies weaker demand and is bearish for crude prices. The same can be said if a decline in inventories is less than expected.
If the increase in crude is less than expected, it implies greater demand and is bullish for crude prices. The same can be said if a decline in inventories is more than expected.
Written by;
Ifunanya Ikueze
