Article by ForexTime

Crude oil prices rallied up toward resistance near the 10-day moving average, following a larger than expected draw in petroleum stocks.  Although crude stock built, product stocks declined as demand for heating oil surged more than 10% year over year for this time of year.

According to the Department of Energy, U.S. crude oil imports averaged over 7.0 million barrels per day last week, down by 439,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports averaged over 7.2 million barrels per day, 3.8% below the same four-week period last year.

The Energy Information Administration also reported that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased by 3.4 million barrels from the previous week. Gasoline inventories decreased by 1.1 million barrels last week and distillate fuel inventories decreased by 3.0 million barrels last week.

Demand remained strong but distillate demand surged. Total demand for products according to the EIA increased by 1% year over year to 19.5 million barrels per day. Over the last four weeks, gasoline demand averaged over 9.1 million barrels per day, up by 3.4% from the same period last year. Distillate fuel demand surged and averaged about 4.0 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, up by 10.0% from the same period last year.

Article by ForexTime

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