Nov. 22 (UPI) — Crude oil prices were higher Wednesday morning in part due to some recovery after a near 6 percent decline on Tuesday, and also lifted by a report Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute of a surprise inventory drawdown, an analyst said.
As of 9:50 a.m. EST WTI front-month futures traded at $54.68 per barrel, or 2.3 percent higher, while Brent crude futures traded at $63.60 per barrel, or 1.7 percent higher.”Given the near 6 percent drop in the oil complex yesterday, prices are seeing a modest lift,” DailyFX analyst Justin McQueen told UPI.
Prices recovered after a decline on Tuesday, when WTI front-month went from $57.20 per barrel down to $53.43 per barrel. Brent front-month also fell on Tuesday from $66.79 per barrel down to $62.53 per barrel.
Crude futures have “also been supported by yesterday’s API report, showing a surprise drawdown in US stockpiles,” he added. The report was published Tuesday afternoon.
“Oil traders will be looking for confirmation at today’s EIA report whereby a drop-in oil inventories would end the run of consecutive weekly stockpile increases, the current streak is eight,” he added.
The Energy Information Administration report was scheduled to be published at 10:30 a.m. EST.
“Elsewhere, reports from the Kremlin noted that Russia were currently monitoring developments in the oil market and will meet with Saudi’s MBS at the G20 summit,” he said.
The G20 summit will take place at the end of the month in Argentina. OPEC will also hold a meeting on December 6 in Vienna.
Russia and Saudi Arabia are two of the three biggest crude oil producers in the world. There has been speculation that an agreement by oil producing nations could be taken to reduce production so that prices could increase. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week he was “just fine” with Brent prices around $70 per barrel.
The U.S. is the biggest producer of crude oil. U.S. President Donald Trump recently said he wanted prices to be lower.
