USA markets have followed crude oil prices lower, as some key components of the Dow and S&P 500 show weakening during the second quarter of the year.
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Oil prices slipped after gains earlier on Thursday and the previous day as overproduction and large volumes of unsold crude and ample refined products around the world weighed on markets.
“Essentially what happened is the expectation for a very strong summer driving season missed the mark”, he told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”.
Gasoline stocks slumped by 3.3 million barrels, compared with forecasts for a 200,000-barrel drop.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 1.4 million barrels during the week of July 29.
USA crude oil imports grew by just over 300,000 barrels per day last week to average over 8.7 million barrels per day for the week of July 29.
Oil traded near $41 a barrel after USA gasoline supplies fell the most since April, retreating from the highest seasonal level in at least two decades.
Oil prices bounced mightily back above $40 a barrel on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Brent crude was up 21 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $43.31 a barrel by 11:27 a.m. EDT (1527 GMT).
That collapse was triggered by a glut that was worsened by rising unconventional oil production, mainly from booming United States shale crude, alongside the OPEC cartel’s reluctance to cut output.
Meanwhile, Brent traded at $42.60, after falling to a more than three-month low of $41.51 on Tuesday.
Oil prices have been under negative pressure because of concerns some of the surge in demand that pulled the price per barrel above $50 earlier this year was starting to fade.
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The report also displayed that crude oil inventories increase by 1.4 million barrels the previous week. “Instead”, he argues, “prices once again rose because financial players expected the dollar to decline… realized this meant they could make money by buying oil on the futures market as a store of value…”
