This week, the oil market witnessed a significant rebound, driven by a confluence of factors including a weaker dollar and revised demand forecasts from major energy organizations.
Hedge funds have cut their bullish bets on crude oil to record lows.
Money managers have slashed their net long positions in both WTI and Brent crude oil by 59,094 lots to just 149,272 in the week ending December 12.
Crude oil prices have been on the decline over the last month, although spot prices for both benchmarks were trading up on Friday.
The EIA reported last week that average daily production in September had remained unchanged from August when it hit the record-high rate of 13.24 million barrels.
Crude oil prices moved lower today, after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a sizeable inventory build of 8.7 million barrels for the week to November 17.
Oil prices have weakened recently, mostly on the back of equally weak economic data from the two largest markets for oil.
WTI crude futures shed more than 3% on Thursday morning
A statement posted on the U.S. Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response’s (CESER) website late Monday noted that the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Petroleum Reserve announced a supplemental solicitation for up to three million barrels of oil for delivery in January 2024.
Despite the falling and flatlining rig count, U.S. crude oil production managed to hit a monthly record-high in August 2023, boosted by productivity gains and more efficient operations.
Venezuela is expected to raise its crude oil production by less than 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) until the end of 2024 as years of underinvestment and mismanagement will hamper rapid output growth following the effective lifting of most oil sanctions on Venezuela for six months, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday.
Crude oil prices moved higher today after the Energy Information Administration reported a crude oil inventory draw of 2.2 million barrels for the week to September 22.