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Petroleum

Crude Oil Prices Surge on Bullish Inventory Reports and Venezuela's Support

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Bullish inventory reports and supportive comments from Venezuela ignited a surge in the petroleum futures market on Wednesday, with April crude gaining more than $1/bbl to close above $14/bbl. The news that six OPEC oil ministers would attend the OPEC meeting on March 30 and Venezuela's reiteration of its support for a worldwide effort to reduce oil production helped brighten market sentiment. In contrast to the mildly supportive weekly statistics from the American Petroleum Institute (API), the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released more bullish stock reports. The EIA figures for the week ended March 13 showed significant declines in crude, gasoline, and distillate stocks, as well as an increase in refinery utilization rate.

Key Takeaways:

  • April Nymex light, sweet crude futures ended the day up $1.13 at $14.34/bbl, while May Nymex crude hit a high of $14.75 before settling at $14.61/bbl.
  • April Nymex gasoline futures made the most impressive gain, advancing almost 4 cents in intraday trade to close at 48.65 cents/gallon.
  • April Nymex heating oil futures also climbed significantly, hitting an intraday high of 41.60 cents/gallon and closing at 41.05 cents/gallon.
  • The EIA reported that crude stocks fell by 2.1 million bbl, gasoline stocks fell by 3.8 million bbl, and distillate stocks fell by 1.7 million bbl.
  • The refinery utilization rate increased by 0.7 percentage points to 95.1% of capacity.
  • Venezuela's support for a worldwide effort to reduce oil production helped brighten market sentiment.
  • Six OPEC oil ministers will attend the OPEC meeting on March 30.

Statistics:

  • April Nymex light, sweet crude futures gained $1.13 to close at $14.34/bbl.
  • May Nymex crude hit a high of $14.75 before settling at $14.61/bbl, up $1.11.
  • April Nymex gasoline futures advanced by 3.76 cents to close at 48.65 cents/gallon.
  • April Nymex heating oil futures climbed by 2.57 cents to close at 41.05 cents/gallon.
  • Crude stocks fell 2.1 million bbl according to EIA figures.
  • Gasoline stocks fell 3.8 million bbl according to EIA figures.
  • Distillate stocks fell 1.7 million bbl according to EIA figures.
  • Refinery utilization rate increased by 0.7 percentage points to 95.1% of capacity.

Sources:

  • American Petroleum Institute (API)
  • Energy Information Administration (EIA)
  • New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex)
  • OPEC

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