On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute’s data also showed a big build, by 9.9 million barrels, which was more than expected.
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US crude stocks last week rose to a record high for a third straight week as distillate inventories increased unexpectedly and imports grew, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday. Prices traded at $34.30 a barrel before the data.
The pact, however, is conditional on the participation of other oil producers.
Crude oil stockpiles jumped by 10.4 million barrels to 518 million barrels, putting them at historically high levels for this time of year, the EIA said. More reliable monthly figures from EIA put USA crude production at 9.2 million bpd in December.
A Russian energy official on Tuesday disclosed that a “critical mass” of oil-producing nations had reached a deal to halt oil production, and that a final decision on such an agrrement would be carried out in the next few weeks, state news agency TASS reported.
Analysts polled by Platts, on average, are looking for an increase of 2.5 million barrels in crude stockpiles for the week ended February 26. The bank said: “Although the market had hoped that some of these producers would immediately cut oil production, we still see this agreement as a strong message”. Inventories at the oil trading hub of Cushing, Oklahoma rose by 1.2 million barrels to a total of 66.3 million barrels.
So current production is running at 9.077 million barrels per day but that’s down from 9.214 mbpd.
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The country’s economy has been staggered by slumping crude prices, and the head of Iraq’s oil marketing organization reportedly said last month that the country would be willing to cooperate with a freeze.
