Large Crude Draw Adds To Bullish Sentiment

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a large draw this week for crude oil of 4.037 million barrels, while analysts predicted a draw of 1.121 million barrels.

The build comes as the Department of Energy released 5.6 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves in Week Ending July 22, to 474.5 million barrels.

U.S. crude inventories have shed some 65 million barrels since the start of 2021, with a 2 million barrel loss since the start of 2020, according to API data.

In the week prior, the API reported a build in crude oil inventories of 1.860 million barrels after analysts had predicted a much smaller build of 333,000 barrels.

WTI was trading down on Tuesday as the IMF warned that the global economy could soon be teetering on the brink of recession. WTI was trading down 1.85% on the day at 3:11 p.m. ET in the runup to the release at $94.91 per barrel—a roughly $9 loss on the week. Brent crude was trading down 0.90% on the day at $104.20—a $3 drop on the week.

U.S. crude oil production data for the week ending July 15 slipped by 100,000 bpd for the second week in a row, to 11.9 million bpd, according to the latest EIA data.  

At 5:05 pm, ET, WTI was trading down at $95.54 (-1.20%), with Brent trading down at $104.70 (-0.47%).

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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