The barrel of crude oil surges by 1% due to soaring surprise stocks in the United States

LONDON – International crude oil prices closed higher as investors badessed the conflicting signs of supply and demand in the United States

A barrel of WTI crude oil in reference to New York rose 1 The same line followed the contract for the barrel of London Brent crude which closed at 1.03% to $ 72.90 on the stock exchange with ICE Futures London-based Europe

Futures in New York fluctuated between gains and losses during the trading session before stabilizing at their highest level of the day after an increase in crude stocks for the first time. week ended. July 13th.

Gasoline contained in storage tanks in the United States has declined further since May and fuel demand has increased, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. it. These factors overshadowed the largest increase in US crude inventories since April.

The surprising stock jump occurred in a context of imminent production growth in Saudi Arabia, Russia, Libya and other important sources. At a meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, OPEC and Allied producers discussed what they plan to produce individual nations this month, but have not formally shared a increase in production expected by the cartel, according to people familiar.

The EIA reported that US crude inventories rose 5.84 million barrels last week, confounding most badysts in a Bloomberg survey that forecast a decline.

Foreign oil purchases have increased more since the beginning of 2017, while crude oil exports have declined for the third week, which has contributed to the creation of the inventory.

"We have seen a decent decline in gasoline inventories, which supports strong demand during the current summer season," said Matthew Beck, general manager of a $ 8 billion oil and gas portfolio of dollars. at John Hanbad Financial in Boston.

Gasoline futures increased by 0.9% to $ 2.0444 per gallon

while oil production reached 11 million barrels for the first time since the record keeping, said the agency.

Crude stocks in the Cushing, Oklahoma, distribution center fell by 860 thousand barrels and those of gasoline were reduced by 3.2 million barrels. The experts consulted by Reuters were expecting a drop of 44,000 barrels

At the same time, the demand for stored gasoline was the highest since early May and foreign oil purchases have increased more since the beginning of 2017, reported IEA

The unexpected rise in crude stocks in the United States occurred in the context of the impending increase in production in Saudi Arabia, Russia, Libya and in other major sources.

At a meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, OPEC and Allied producers discussed what they planned to produce individual nations this month, but did not formally shared a production increase planned by the cartel. 19659016] With information from Reuters and Notimex.