On Wednesday morning, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report that domestic crude inventories rose by 2.0 million barrels for the week ending on April 22.
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The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported USA commercial crude inventories rose by two million barrels to a total of 540.6 million barrels in the previous week. It showed that USA crude oil inventory fell by 1.1 MMbbls (million barrels) for the week ended April 22, 2016, compared to the previous week.
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) – Brent crude reached fresh 2016 highs on Friday and was poised for its biggest monthly gain in seven years as a weak dollar and falling US production tempered concerns about a lingering excess of physical oil.
U.S. government data showed that production dropped by 15,000 barrels a day to 8.94 million a day through April 22, while stockpiles were at their highest level since October 1929 at 540.6 million barrels, Bloomberg news reported.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) reached $45.13 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude struck $47.05 in trading on Wednesday – the highest points since early November.
Oil prices are headed for a fourth straight week of gains, with Brent on track to finish April 17 percent higher for its best monthly gain in a year, despite aborted plans by major producers to agree on an output freeze at a meeting in Qatar earlier this month. The contract gained $1.26 to $45.74 a barrel on Tuesday.
The dollar fell half a per cent, sliding for a fourth day in a row and to a two-week low against a basket of currencies.
Also underpinning the market was the United States dollar’s weakness after the Federal Reserve indicated Wednesday it was in no hurry to raise interest rates and the Bank of Japan’s rejection of more stimulus the next day, which sent the yen soaring, analysts said.
While Jefferies said it expected the market to remain oversupplied in the near term, it said that crude inventories should begin to fall by the third quarter, “setting the stage for a fundamental recovery”.
Crude has rebounded after slumping earlier this year to the lowest since 2003 amid signs the global surplus will ease as US output declines.
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Brent, the worldwide benchmark is up by 1.43% to trade at $46.23 per barrel. That tends to stimulate demand and push oil prices higher.
