Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 3.84 million barrels in the week that ended March 3, private data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) reportedly showed on Tuesday. Reserves in Cushing, Oklahoma, allegedly rose by 240,000 barrels. Meanwhile, gasoline stockpiles surged by 1.84 million barrels, ( NB: this is the lowest gasoline demand time of the year… Refineries build inventories in anticipation of the coming driving season) and distillate inventories increased by 1.97 million barrels, according to the report.
US EIA revises up oil demand outlook for 2023
The United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday revised up global oil demand outlook for the next two years, forecasting total consumption to reach 100.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 and 102.69 million bpd in 2024. The agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) for March revealed that China will be the key driver behind the demand growth as the country shifts away from its zero-COVID policy. Additionally, EIA projected global crude output to increase by 1.5 million bpd to a total of 101.5 million bpd in 2023. The agency forecasted additional 1.8 million bpd increase in oil production in 2024, bringing the total volume to 103 million bpd. In the United States alone, the total crude output volume is expected to hit 12.44 million bpd in 2023, and 12.63 million bpd in 2024.
WTI drops 3% on monetary policy worries
Prices of oil futures extended losses on Tuesday as traders assessed comments United States Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made during his testimony before Congress. He reaffirmed the Fed’s commitment to pushing inflation down, stating that a higher terminal interest rate, the point where the US central bank is expected to stop hiking rates and reanalyze the impact of its restrictive monetary policy, could be more elevated than what the previous projections have shown. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for settlements in April declined 2.97% to $78.07 per barrel at 12:18 pm ET. Brent for deliveries in May was down 2.59% to $83.96 per barrel at the same time. NN BlackMask Blog: