Crude oil inventories in the United States have all declined since July last week: EIA By Investing.com

Investing.com – Crude oil inventories in the United States have declined at their fastest pace since July 2018, proving that the global oil market is responding to the reduction in supply led by the United States. OPEC and Russia.

In its weekly report released Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration announced a drop of 9.59 million barrels in the week to March 15, a decrease of 3.86 million barrels the previous week. Analysts expected a modest accumulation of stocks of 0.31 million barrels.

The EIA report also showed that the drop of 4.59 million barrels, nearly double the expected output of 2.41 million barrels, was reduced by 4.13 million barrels, while it had been reduced by 1.09 million barrels.

"This is a significant decline in all areas that should make OPEC very satisfied with its strategy to reduce production," said Barani Krishnan, an badyst at Investing.com.

Trade increased after the release of the data, gaining 0.5% to $ 59.59 per barrel at 10:37 am ET (2:37 pm GMT), against $ 59.15 before publication.

Transactions on the London market rose 0.5% to $ 68.00 per barrel, up from $ 67.60 before publication.

"The crude oil stock of nearly 10 million barrels, in particular, compared to market expectations for a construction of 300,000 barrels, reflects the steady pace of refining compared to imports which remain below normal levels despite the recovery recorded last week, "Krishnan added," In addition to that, you have 4 million barrels of gasoline and distillate draft. "

"On paper, it certainly puts octane in the reservoir of WTI bulls at $ 60, although in reality, a market is struggling today to reconcile the fundamentals of oil and the growing concerns of the economy. World. "

US crude ended lower at close on Tuesday as bulls were out of breath. Bloomberg blamed the door, reporting that Beijing was pushing Washington's demands. Bloomberg said the Chinese authorities were opposed to the absence of US badurances that tariffs would be lifted when the deal is concluded.

According to Reuters sources, high-level talks are expected in Beijing for the week of March 25, but friction between the world's two largest economies is likely to blur the prospects for the global economy and hinder the demand for money. oil.

Despite this, WTI oil is still up more than 2.5% this month and has exploded by about 30% in 2019, "driven by risk appetite related to the link between rising stocks and mainly through the production cuts and sanctions of Trump (against Iran) and Venezuela, "said Ole Hansen, product strategy manager at SaxoBank. "All are formidable opponents of any potential bear," he added.

The aggressive production cuts made by OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, and by 10 other allies of the Russian-led oil producers' club, were in the spotlight this week while the Kingdom and Moscow were both emphasizing their intention to increase respect for the reduction of production. .

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak appeared to be joining forces to cancel an April meeting in favor of a more "wise" decision when the end of the current pact comes to an end. June.

But Krishnan warned that the canceled meeting could actually be one.

"The Saudis can silence a lot of dissension within OPEC with their de facto leadership position in the cartel," he said. "However, Falih did not seem to take any risk by sending confused or confusing messages in the group in a month, while global oil demand is expected to remain moderate and the major economies in decline will not fail on the part of OPEC. could immediately weigh on crude prices. "