The price of oil stayed on its level on Thursday as it held most of its gains last Wednesday. Futures were also supported by the recent decline in U.S. stockpiles as it shows that OPEC’s plan to tighten the bloated market has been working.
Some traders are suggesting that continues draw downs in commercial crude storages in the United States were indications of slowly tightening market. However, they added that one more rise in production might hold the market back. ANZ bank said that another strong decline in U.S. oil stockpiles should see oil futures being supported but there are still signs of restraint because production of oil in the U.S. is continuously rising.
The production of oil in the stateside have already reached its best level since July 2015 with more than 9.53 million barrels per day (bpd) on the previous week and rose about 13 percent from their previous declines last year. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said yesterday that crude stocks in the U.S. and gas stocks dropped last week regardless of the surge in U.S. output.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices lost more than 10 cents and finishes at $48.31 per barrel. Global benchmark for oil futures Brent crude prices was 9 cents down on the day and settles at $52.48 per barrel. Crude prices were weighed by potential disruptions in production as it jumped about 1 percent on the previous trade.
Crude stockpiles edged lower by 13.5 percent or about 3.3 million barrels in the week to 463.17 million barrels on August 18.