Large Crude Draw Sends Oil Prices Higher

Crude oil price moved higher today after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a crude oil inventory draw of 8 million barrels for the week to April 15.

This compared with an inventory increase of 9.4 million barrels for the previous week, which, however, failed to move prices in any significant way.

A day earlier, on Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute estimated a crude oil inventory draw of close to 4.5 million barrels.

At 413.7 million barrels, the EIA said, inventories were 15 percent below the five-year average for this time of the year.

Oil was trading higher at the time of writing, as bullish factors combined to push it further up. Among these was the force majeure on Libyan export terminals and the shutdown of two major fields including Sharara, the country’s largest, and news that Russian oil shipments abroad had fallen by 25 percent over the past seven days.

Additional upward pressure on prices came from the International Monetary Fund, which on Tuesday revised down its growth forecast for the global economy for this year, saying it will likely be one percentage point lower than previously forecast.

Meanwhile, the EIA added to the bullish sentiment by also reporting an inventory draw of 800,000 barrels for gasoline, with production at 9.8 million bpd last week.

This compared with a gasoline inventory draw of 3.6 million barrels for the previous week, and average daily production of 9.5 million barrels.

In middle distillates, the authority estimated a stock draw of 2.7 million barrels for the week to April 15, with production averaging 4.8 million barrels daily.

This compared with an inventory draw of 2.9 million barrels for the previous week and average daily production of 4.7 million bpd.

At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $107 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $102.20 per barrel, both slightly down since the opening of trade.