The North American crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) managed to trade slightly higher on Wednesday after reports released showed that crude stockpiles in the US; the world’s biggest consumer, fell but remained near a six-month low on speculation that crude demand would reduce.
Futures for the North American West Texas Intermediate crude for September rose 0.18% to $97.56 a barrel on New York’s Nymex at the time of writing, while the European benchmark Brent for September settlement edged up 0.29% at $104.92 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange based in London.
The North American crude futures dropped to its lowest of $97.38 a barrel on Tuesday, the lowest since February 5. The contract rose as much as 0.4% last week.
US Crude Stockpiles Report
Crude stockpiles in the US fell by 5.5 million barrels in the week ending August 1, according to a report from the American Petroleum institute (API) released on Tuesday. The report also showed that gasoline supplies declined by 3.6 million barrels during the same week.
Crude supplies in Cushing, Oklahoma, the biggest oil-storage hub in the US, climbed by 51,000 barrels, the API report revealed. The figures from the report are based on voluntary surveys from operators of refiners and pipelines.
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A separate report from the energy Information Administration is expected to be released later in the day and expected to show a drop in stockpiles by 1.55 million, according to a Bloomberg News survey.
Middle East Tension
In Libya, the state-owned National Oil Corp is holding talks to resume exports from the Es Sider port and shipments from the Ras Lanuf terminal is expected to begin later this week, according to the company’s spokesman Mohamed Elharari. Last month the ports were handed over to the government by rebels.
Meanwhile in Iraq, Genel energy, the largest producer in the region is assuring that its independent pipeline exports won’t be impeded by the political turmoil.
So far, the Kurdish oil exports have remained unaffected by the ongoing turmoil in the southern region of the country, the home to more than three-quarters of Iraq’s crude output.
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