Data on US inventories supported oil prices

On Thursday, oil prices began to rise, supported by data on declining US energy inventories. The current price of Brent oil is $74.65 per barrel, WTI oil is $73.27 per barrel.

According to data from the US Department of Energy, oil reserves in the United States fell by 4.1 million barrels last week – to the lowest level since January 2020. At the same time, gasoline stocks decreased by 2.3 million barrels, distillates – by 3.1 million barrels. Reserves in Cushing, where oil traded on the Nymex is stored, decreased by 1.3 million barrels over the week.

Analysts predicted a decrease in hydrocarbon reserves by 2.5 million barrels, gasoline – by 1.3 million barrels, distillates – by 1.6 million barrels. Experts note that the decline in oil, gasoline and distillate stocks in the United States suggests that energy demand in the country remains high, despite the renewed increase in the incidence of Covid.

At the same time, it is expected that global oil reserves will continue to decline throughout the remainder of this year against the backdrop of economic recovery in countries that are major energy consumers.