Oil prices finish at 10-week high as domestic crude supplies, Cushing stocks drop

Let's ignore the 3.8m barrels of distillates added to their stocks and the 2.9m barrels of gasoline added to their inventory. The entirety of Crude and Crude Products +SPR  inventory increased 6.917M Barrels. 

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

Oil futures climbed on Wednesday to finish at their highest in about 10 weeks on the back of a second-straight weekly decline in domestic crude supplies and a drop in stocks at the Cushing, Okla. storage hub.

"Who would have thought that only a few weeks after hitting sub-zero, oil prices would stage a solid recovery back towards the $30 region?" said Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM. On the eve of the expiration of the May WTI contract, futures prices on April 20 settled at a negative price, implying that investors would need to pay buyers to take delivery of crude oil amid dwindling storage space.

"With economies easing lockdown measures, oil could edge higher in the near term," Otunuga told MarketWatch. "However, gains may be capped by global growth fears and renewed U.S.-China trade tensions."

On Wednesday, July West Texas Intermediate oil CLN20, +0.14%CL.1, +0.14%, which is the most-actively traded and the front-month contract, rose $1.53, or 4.8%, to settle at $33.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the highest finish since March 10, based on the front-month contracts, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Meanwhile, global benchmark Brent crude for July delivery BRN.1, +0.36%BRNN20, +0.36% picked up $1.10, or 3.2%, at $35.75 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe—the highest finish since March 11.

The Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories fell by 5 million barrels for the week ended May 15, marking a second weekly decline in a row. That compared with a forecast by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts for an average increase of 2.4 million barrels. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported a decline of 4.8 million barrels.

The EIA data showed crude stocks at the Cushing storage hub fell by about 5.5 million barrels for the week, easing concerns over tightening storage space.

" 'Overall, [oil] storage isn't filling up as quickly as expected with the steeper production cuts rebalancing the physical market.' "

— Marshall Steeves, IHS Markit

"The crude oil stock draw was unexpected, but it is attributable to declines in both imports and production, while refinery inputs were higher," Marshall Steeves, energy markets analyst at IHS Markit, told MarketWatch. "Overall, storage isn't filling up as quickly as expected with the steeper production cuts rebalancing the physical market."

An agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies to cut some 9.7 million barrels a day in oil through the end of June have helped to stem a flood of crude against a backdrop of demand that had been declining, hurt by lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Production in the U.S. has also declined, with the EIA on Wednesday reporting that total oil output fell by 100,000 barrels a day to 11.5 million barrels a day last week. In a separate report issued Monday, the EIA forecast further a decline in domestic shale-oil production.

Wednesday's EIA report, meanwhile, also revealed that gasoline supply unexpectedly climbed by 2.8 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose 3.8 million barrels. The S&P Global Platts survey had shown expectations for a supply decline of 3.5 million barrels for gasoline, while distillate stocks were forecast at 3.2 million barrels higher.

On Nymex, June gasoline RBM20, +0.12% gave up earlier gains to finish 0.1% lower at $1.0438 a gallon, while June heating oil HOM20, +0.17% added nearly 1.8% to 99.06 cents a gallon.

June natural gas NGM20, -0.45% lost 3.2% to $1.771 per million British thermal units ahead of Thursday's EIA update on U.S. supplies of the commodity. On average, analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expect the government data to show a weekly climb of 81 billion cubic feet.