Markets

Breakdown of the latest developments on the global exchanges
Sep 6, 2019, 12:00 PM GMT
#Energy

The Crude Oil Dips Following Yesterday’s Crude Oil Inventories in the US

The weekly crude oil inventories report did not deliver any significant surprises yesterday, as the overall crude oil imports in the United States peaked at the 4-weeks average at 6.9 million barrels per day last week. The price of the commodity did not react very noticeably after the release of the report due to the absence of a clear and concise direction of its findings.

On the one hand, “crude oil refinery inputs averaged 17.4 million barrels per day during the week ending the 30th of August, 2019, which was 27,000 barrels per day less than the previous week's average” [source] As a result, the price of the WTI crude oil appreciated from 56.94 to 57.72 within half an hour after the release of the report.

On the other hand, the aggregate imported quantity exceeded the previous week’s average as the “crude oil imports averaged 6.9 million barrels per day last week, up by 976,000 barrels per day from the previous week." Thus, the positive impact on the commodity's price from the lesser production was offset by, the larger quantity of last week’s imports. As a result, the price quickly corrected itself in the few hours after the release of the report.

Overall, the price of the WTI traded temporarily above 57.16 during yesterday’s trading session, which is also the 38.2 per cent Fibonacci retracement level. However, the price quickly corrected itself and eventually closed below that level at 56.13.