West TX Oil at $79 on U.S. Stockpiles

West Texas Intermediate held gains from the biggest advance in two weeks after government data showed crude stockpiles fell at the largest U.S. storage hub. Brent was steady as Libya shut its main oil field.

Futures were little changed in New York after rising 1.9 percent yesterday. Crude supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI contracts, shrank by 551,000 barrels last week, the first decline in four weeks, the Energy Information Administration reported. Libya halted its Sharara field that had been disrupted by strikes and violence in the past, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Oil is trading in a bear market amid signs that global supply is outpacing demand. Leading OPEC producers have resisted calls to cut output as they compete with the U.S., which is pumping at the fastest pace in more than 30 years. The price collapse is a “concern for everyone,” Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez said as he met Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi yesterday.

Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.