Crude oil prices rose today after the Energy Information Administration reported a 6.6 million barrels of inventory decline for the week to Feb. 5. Stocks of gasoline and middle distillate were mixed again.
The report came a day after the American Petroleum Institute depressed oil traders by reporting that significant supplies of gasoline had been built up, sparking hopes for a speedy recovery in fuel demand.
Analysts had expected the EIA to report an increase in crude oil inventories at 1.34 million barrels.
A week earlier, the authority had estimated a crude oil stockpile at 1 million barrels.
As for gasoline, the EIA reported an increase in inventory of 4.3 million barrels for the reporting period, compared to a significant increase of 4.5 million barrels reported in the previous week.
Gasoline production averaged 8.7 million bps last week, up from 8.4 million bps a week earlier.
As for middle distillates, the EIA reported a stockpile of 1.7 million barrels for the week to February 5, with an average production of 4.7 million barrels per day.
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This compared to the unchanged stocks a week earlier, making them about 8 percent higher than the seasonal average over five years. Production in the last week of January averaged 4.6 million barrels per day.
Earlier this week, the EIA revised its price forecasts for both Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate upward and now said they expected an average of $ 53.20 a barrel and $ 50.21 a barrel this year. The benchmarks would rise further, according to the authority, albeit modestly in 2022.
Both Brent and WTI are already trading above their predicted average for the year, boosted by Covid-19 vaccinations and tighter supply, with some analysts and hedge fund managers expecting prices to go much higher before the end of this year, with the number listed from $ 70-80 to over $ 100, the latter seen as possible next year.
Brent crude oil was trading at $ 61.10 a barrel at the time of writing, and West Texas Intermediate changed hands at $ 58.24 a barrel.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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