DTN Oil Update
Oil Futures Slid Despite Crude Inventory Draw
HOUSTON (DTN) -- Oil futures continued their downward trend on Wednesday despite reports from the Energy Information Administration and the American Petroleum Institute showing a draw in U.S. crude stocks for the week ended Feb. 21.
The NYMEX WTI and ICE Brent futures contract for April delivery was steady at $68.92 bbl, while the front-month ICE Brent edged down by $0.18 at $72.84 bbl. The ULSD futures contract for March delivery fell by $0.0413 to $2.3490 gallon while March RBOB futures contract dropped by $0.0128 to $1.9545 gallon.
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The EIA reported Wednesday morning that commercial crude oil inventories in the U.S. fell by 2.3 million bbl to 430.2 million bbl for the week ending Feb. 21.
The EIA data on commercial crude oil inventories showed a larger draw compared to the 640,000 million bbl draw reported by API on Tuesday, Feb. 25, for the same reference week.
Meanwhile, supply at the Cushing, Oklahoma tank farm -- the delivery point for NYMEX WTI futures -- increased 1.182 million bbl, API data showed.
Gasoline stocks rose by 400,000 bbl week-over-week reaching 248.3 million bbl, which was below the 573,00 bbl increase reported by API for the same period, according to EIA.
Distillate fuel stocks rose 3.9 million bbl to 120.5 million bbl last week, the figure was above the 1.109 million bbl drop, API reported for the refence week.
Refinery utilization rates rose to 86.5% compared to above the 84.9% reported the prior week.
The U.S. Dollar Index fell by 0.29% to 106.51 against a basket of foreign currencies.
The bearish sentiment in the oil futures market was supported by the uncertainty caused by the imposition of 10% trade tariffs on imported goods from China and 25% on aluminum and steel imports from Canada and Mexico by the United States, as well as reciprocal trade tariffs against other U.S. trade partners.
Expectations of ample supplies due to the possibility of an end of the Russia-Ukraine war, which entered its third year this week, are also putting downward pressure on oil futures prices.
