There’s been strong gains seen in the crude oil benchmarks this afternoon with both Brent (Oil on xStation) and WTI surging higher by more than 3%. The rally comes just one day ahead of the Saudi Aramco IPO and also in a week where the Oil price will attract a greater level of scrutiny given that OPEC members are meeting in Vienna.
Normally, the DOE inventory data is the main event of the week, but given the proximity to the OPEC announcement (expected Friday) it could be seen to take on a little less importance this time out. Anyway, the data is worth noting as follows:
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EIA inventories: -4.9M vs -1.6M exp. +1.6M prior. API: -3.7M
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Gasoline inventories: +1.8M vs +5.1M prior
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Distillates: +0.3M vs +0.7M prior
Overall these figures are supportive of the recent rally and have sent the market up to its highest level of the day.
Oil has gained strongly today with the recent DOE release providing further buying pressure. Price is now back approaching the recent highs near 63.60 as attention turns to OPEC. Source: xStation