Even a minuscule decline in US stockpiles was enough to give oil prices a boost after a turbulent week of trading.
Futures in New York rose after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US crude inventories fell by 46,000 barrels last week, the smallest decrease since 2011.
The decline was viewed positively following the American Petroleum Institute’s reported 6.92 million-barrel crude build on Thursday.
Still, crude posted a third consecutive weekly loss.
Meanwhile, US gasoline stockpiles rose by the most since June, while crude production also increased, keeping price rallies limited.
“We were expecting a pretty meaningful build,” so even though the stockpile decline was small, “it was a bit of a relief for the market,” said Brian Kessens, who helps manage US$16 billion in energy assets at Tortoise in Leawood, Kansas. “Oil is largely just trading with the broader market sentiment and a little less on the fundamentals.”
Crude oil and the equity market have swung between large gains and steep losses this week as uncertainty persists over the global economy and turmoil in Washington carries on.
Oil is on track for its worst quarterly loss since 2014 amid global growth fears and doubts over the effectiveness of OPEC’s production-cut agreement.
“I can see a couple more draws coming due to tax maneuvering,” said Ashley Petersen, an oil analyst at Stratas Advisors LLC in New York. “It’s good to see the market coming to its senses and entering a bit more of a wait-and-see mode.”
West Texas Intermediate crude for February added US$0.72 to settle at US$45.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 1.8 percent for the week.
Total volume traded on Friday was 18 percent below the 100-day average.
Brent for February settlement rose US$0.04 in its last trading session before expiry, closing at US$52.20 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange, down 3.2 percent for the week. The more active March contract added US$0.48 to US$53.21 on Friday.
The EIA data also showed gasoline stockpiles climbed by about 3 million barrels last week and crude production jumped to 11.7 million barrels a day. Distillate inventories rose by 2,000 barrels.
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