Both WTI and brent crude closed above $37 a barrel on Thursday
Investing.com -- U.S. crude futures continued to bounce from multi-year lows, extending a rally from the previous three sessions on Thursday, as investors digested an unexpected draw in U.S. oil inventories last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for February delivery traded between $37.40 and $38.28 a barrel before settling at $38.12, up 0.62 or 1.65% on the day. At session highs, U.S. crude futures surged to their highest level in two weeks. During the mini four-day rally, Texas Long Sweet futures rallied nearly 10% off their lowest level since 2009. U.S. crude futures had soared by more than 4% in each of its previous two sessions.
On the Intercontinental Exchange, brent crude for February delivery wavered between $36.96 and $38.10 a barrel, before closing at $37.91, up 0.55 or 1.46% on the day. North Sea brent futures remain slightly above 11-year lows from earlier in the week.
For the third consecutive session, as investors continued to react to last week's repeal of a 40-year ban on U.S. crude exports by U.S. Congress. On Tuesday, WTI closed at a premium over brent for the first time since August, 2010.
Both the international and U.S. domestic benchmarks of crude are down by more than 30% this year, amid a surfeit of supply for the majority of 2015.
Energy traders continued to depart from their short positions on Thursday, one day after receiving a wave of bullish data on a potential narrowing of the supply-demand imbalance on global markets. On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in itsWeekly Petroleum Status Report that U.S. commercial crude inventories decreased by 5.9 million barrels for the week ending on December 18. At 484.8 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories remain near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
Also on Wednesday, oil services firm Baker Hughes (N:BHI) said its oil rig count fell by three to 538 for the week ending on Dec. 18, resuming a year-long collapse started last fall. Earlier this year, U.S. oil rigs moved lower in every week for more than five months as high-cost shale drillers pulled underperforming rigs offline at record-low prices. The rig count peaked above 1,600 last fall. Baker Hughes released the report two days earlier than usual this week due to Friday's holiday.
OPEC, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that it expects global demand to increase to 97.4 million barrels per day by 2020, up from forecasts of 96.9 million last year. The world's largest oil cartel also expects global supply to increase to 97.6 million bpd by 2020 from a level in 2014 of 92.4 million bpd. The new estimates represent a downward revision of approximately 1 million bpd from last year's outlook. OPEC sparked a massive sell-off in global crude last November with a strategic decision to leave its production ceiling above 30 million.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell by more than 0.40% to an intraday low of 97.96 before settling at 98.02. Earlier this month, the index eclipsed 100.00 to reach its highest level in more than 12 months.
Dollar-denominated commodities such as crude become more expensive for foreign purchasers when the dollar appreciates.
ليست هناك تعليقات :
إرسال تعليق