WTI crude oil prices are on the rise, reversing the bearishness seen since the beginning of this week, in anticipation of the EIA inventories’ data due later today possibly revealing a drawdown in US crude stockpiles for the past week. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $63.57 per barrel.
WTI oil prices had slipped during the previous session following the release of the API report which pointed to a larger than forecast build in crude inventories. According to the API, crude inventories in the US increased by 12.8 million barrels last week, against economists’ expectations for a smaller 800k barrel build instead.
Crude oil prices received some support, however, from the EIA revising its estimates for US crude production. The EIA now forecasts a decline of 160k bpd in crude production across the US to 11.15 million bpd in 2021, but the decline is smaller than the previous estimate of a 290k bpd reduction instead.
While the recent decision by OPEC+ countries to extend deeper supply cuts into April offered some relief to oil traders last week, there are increasing concerns that improving oil prices could spur oil production, especially in the US. A possible increase in supply even as global oil demand is yet to improve substantially could exert downward pressure on crude oil in the coming sessions.
