WTI Leaks Lower After API Reports Surprise Crude Build
The American Petroleum Institute reported a surprise build of 3.26 million barrels of crude oil last week, after three relatively quiet weeks.
After being oversold for nine consecutive days, oil prices rose today as market chatter about protecting depositors eased market fears slightly ahead of tomorrow's Fed meeting. Russia's announcement that it would increase its 500,000 barrel-a-day crude oil output through June further supported crude prices.
Vikas Dwivedi of Macquarie Group Ltd., a global oil and gas strategist, stated that the Fed's interest-rate decision on Wednesday and its expected impact on the economic environment are likely to further move crude prices.
Oil will rise if these macro macro factors really start to turn the corner.
Dwivedi said.
API
Crude +3.262mm (-1.448mm exp)
Cushing -760k
Gasoline - 1.09mm
Distillates -1.84mm
API reported unexpected crude inventory growth of 3.26mm barrels after 3 relatively quiet weeks.
Source: Bloomberg
WTI traded just above $69.50 before the API print (at a higher end of the trend channel )...).
The surprise crude build leaked slightly lower...
Commerzbank commodity analyst Barbara Lambrecht stated that oil prices are particularly affected by the market turmoil. She added that:
"We consider the price slump excessively and speculatively driven for most of it."
Also, we note that
Crude oil is trading at a level that could lead the U.S. government into thinking about refilling its Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The, which is at a 40 year low