Oil Hits Another 2015 Record High

Oil prices rose more than a dollar to 2015 highs on Wednesday, as a month-long rally gained further impetus from a fall in U.S. crude stocks and conflict in the Middle East.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up $1.60 to $69.12 a barrel by 1252 GMT, after hitting a 2015 peak of $69.25.

U.S. crude CLc1 traded $1.59 higher at $61.99 a barrel, near an intraday high of $62.08.

“Bulls are in control of the market,” said Tamas Varga and Stephen Brennock, analysts at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates, in a note on Wednesday.

Industry group the American Petroleum Institution (API) said on Tuesday U.S. crude oil stocks fell, giving a lift to prices.

API said overall stocks fell by 1.5 million barrels while stocks at the key delivery point of Cushing, Oklahoma fell by 336,000 barrels. [API/S]

The U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration will issue official stockpiles data later on Wednesday. [EIA/S]

The fall in crude stocks was likely to be interpreted as “sign that the market is beginning to tighten” said Germany’s Commerzbank on Wednesday.

Conflict in Yemen continued on Wednesday after witnesses said planes from a Saudi Arabia-led coalition struck Yemeni towns overnight, following mortar attacks from Iran-allied Shi’ite Houthi rebels.

via Reuters

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza