|
Oil Prices
Rise 2%+ After US Crude Inventories Report and Russian
Statements Re OPEC
Reuters:
21 November 2019
Oil prices
rose by more than 2% on Wednesday after a “better-than-expected”
report on US crude inventories and as Russia said it would
continue its cooperation with OPEC to maintain a balanced global
oil market.
Brent crude
futures settlements reached US$ 62.40 a barrel, up by US$ 1.49
(2.5%). West Texas
Intermediate closed at US$ 57.11 a barrel, up by US$ 1.90
(3.4%).
US crude oil
inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels last week as reported by
the Energy Information Administration (EIA). However, analysts
had expected it to increase by 1.5 million barrels. The American
Petroleum Institute late on Tuesday said that the increase
reached 6 million barrels.
EIA said
“Refinery consumption rose by 519,000 barrels, while the crude
stockpiled at the West Texas Intermediate delivery point in
Cushing, Oklahoma, dropped by 2.3 million barrels, the biggest
drop in three months”.
Oil prices
were also supported by the comments of the Russian President
Vladimir Putin that Russia will continue to cooperate with the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) under the
global supply reduction agreement.
OPEC will
meet on December 5th in Vienna followed by talks with
a group of other exporters including Russia, as part of what is
currently known as the “OPEC+ Alliance”.
|