Oil futures ended sharply on Wednesday as the International Energy Agency raised its prospects for crude oil demand and a U.S. government report revealed a weekly drop in weekly inventories, prompting that prices would reach their highest end since mid-March.
In its monthly report, the International Energy Agency raised its global oil demand forecast for 2021 by 230,000 barrels a day from its previous forecast. It now sees an increase of 5.7 million barrels per day from 2020 to 96.7 million barrels per day this year.
“Oil prices may be coming out of their one-month trading range, as the normally pessimistic IEA sounds pretty bullish,” said Phil Flynn, a senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group, in a daily report.
On Tuesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries increased its demand for 2021 by 100,000 barrels a day. World oil demand is expected to rise by about 6 million barrels a day to reach 96.5 million barrels a day this year. OPEC also raised its global economic growth forecast from 5.1% to 5.4%.
Oil prices rose, with the latest demand updates pointing to a greater uptake of the commodity as the world economy recovers from the pandemic.
West West Intermediate crude for May delivery CLK21,
CL00,
rose $ 2.97, or 4.9%, to settle at $ 63.15 a barrel on the New York Stock Exchange, after settling above $ 60 for the first time since of April 1st.
World reference for brent crude BRN00 in June,
BRNM21,
collected $ 2.91, or 4.6%, at $ 66.58 a barrel at ICE Futures Europe.
Both WTI and Brent crude prices recorded their highest contract settlements since March 17, according to FactSet data.
In a weekly report also released Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude inventories fell 5.9 million barrels during the week ended April 9th. This followed after the fall in supply in each of the previous two weeks.
On average, analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts forecast a drop of 2.9 million barrels for crude stock, while the U.S. Petroleum Institute reported a 3.6 million barrel decline on Tuesday, according to sources .
EIA data also showed crude stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage center increased by 400,000 barrels during the week, while total domestic oil production increased by 100,000 barrels to 11 million barrels. newspapers.
The EIA reported that gasoline supply increased by 300,000 barrels, while distillate stocks fell by 2.1 million barrels during the week. The S&P Global Platts survey had predicted a drop in gasoline supply of 200,000 barrels, but distillate inventories were expected to increase by 700,000 barrels.
U.S. gasoline reserves “are now 10 percent lower than they were at 2020,” Peter McNally, a global leader in Third Bridge’s industrial, materials and energy industry, told MarketWatch. “This is a situation we are watching closely before the summer driving season begins in the United States next month.”
Nymex Wednesday, May RBK21 Gasoline,
rose 3% to nearly $ 2.04 a gallon and heating oil in May HOK21,
added 4.2% to $ 1.89 a gallon.
May natural gas NGK21,
they settled almost flat at $ 2.62 per million British thermal units, 0.04% less.
Overall, “current trends (flat domestic production, low imports, and a recovery in demand) continue,” McNally said. “In fact, the total demand for products according to the deseasonalization was higher than the levels of 2019 and the second highest recorded.”
Meanwhile, oil traders have been weighing on oil demand prospects. This week, the market has seen evidence of a strong economic recovery in China and the United States, but is concerned about rising coronavirus cases in some parts of the world and the proper launch of vaccines, including a pause in the launch of Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ,
the unique remedy also has limited movements in crude.