Oil prices jumped further today after the Energy Information Administration reported a crude oil inventory draw of 7.6 million barrels for the week to June 18.
This compared with a draw of 7.4 million barrels reported for the previous week and another draw, of 7.2 million barrels, that the American Petroleum Institute reported for the week to June 18 yesterday.
Analysts had expected the EIA to report a crude stock draw of 3.625 million barrels for the period.
The draw comes amid a slight faltering in the oil price rally as reports emerged that OPEC+ is considering returning more barrels to global supply from August in response to the strong rebound in demand.
The hiccup came after the rally got another strong boost from the Iranian elections. These yielded a hardliner for the new president of the country, casting a shadow over the success of nuclear talks with the United States. This success would lead to a return of a couple of million barrels daily in Iranian production.
However, with Ebrahim Raisi at the helm, it just got a lot more uncertain: the Iranian President-elect this week rejected the possibility of meeting with President Biden and discussing Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for various Middle Eastern armed groups.
The latest update on U.S.-Iranian events, however, is potentially bearish for oil: a Tehran official said the U.S. had lifted all sanctions on the Iranian oil industry, pushing prices up.
Meanwhile, the EIA also reported a 2.9-million-barrel draw in gasoline stocks and production of 10.3 million bpd. This compared with a build of 2 million barrels for the previous week, and production of 9.9 million bpd.
In middle distillates, the authority estimated an inventory increase of 1.8 million barrels for the week to June 18, with production averaging 5.1 million bpd. This compared with a stock draw of 1 million barrels for the previous week and production of 5.1 million bpd.
Brent crude was trading at $75.78 a barrel at the time of writing, with West Texas Intermediate at $73.80 a barrel.
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By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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