Thursday,
28 Nov 2019
Brent crude futures
settled at $64.06 a barrel, down 21 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude
settled at $58.11 a barrel, shedding 30 cents. WTI trade volumes lower ahead of
the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, with lots of front-month contracts trading down
about 5% compared with the previous session.
NEW YORK: Oil eased on
Wednesday after a report showing U.S. crude inventories grew unexpectedly last
week, while gasoline stocks surged and production hit another record.
Losses were limited by
optimism that a U.S.-China trade deal would be reached soon.
Brent crude futures
settled at $64.06 a barrel, down 21 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude
settled at $58.11 a barrel, shedding 30 cents.
WTI trade volumes lower
ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, with lots of front-month contracts
trading down about 5% compared with the previous session.
U.S. crude stocks swelled by 1.6 million barrels last week as production hit a
record high at 12.9 million barrels per day and refinery runs slowed, the
Energy Information Administration said. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast
a drop of 418,000 barrels.
The more bearish news
from the EIA was that U.S. gasoline inventories soared 5.1 million barrels, compared
with expectations for a 1.2 million-barrel gain.
U.S. gasoline futures
dropped 3.63 cents, or 2.1%, to $1.67 a gallon.
"EIA's estimate of
a further increase in crude production to a record pace of 12.9 (million bpd)
appeared to provide a significant catalyst behind today's selling," Jim
Ritterbusch, president of trading advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates,
said in a note. "The RBOB (gasoline) futures provided a drag on the rest
of the complex as a result of a much larger-than-expected gasoline stock
build."
Oil prices pared losses
slightly after a report showing U.S. oil drillers reduced the number of
drilling rigs for a record 12 months in a row. [RIG/U] The rig count is an
indication of future supply.
Drillers cut three oil
rigs in the week to Nov. 27, bringing the total count down to 668, the lowest
since April 2017, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in data released
early due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
Hopes that Beijing and
Washington would strike a trade deal limited losses in oil.
Prices had risen for
the last two days on expectations that China and the United States, the world's
two biggest crude users, would soon sign a preliminary agreement, signaling an
end to their 16-month trade dispute.
"Trade deal
optimism persists," said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM. "The belief
in a positive trade deal continues unabated."
That was fueled by
comments from U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, who said the United
States and China were close to agreement after top negotiators spoke by
telephone and agreed to keep working on remaining issues. - Reuters
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