The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a modest pull in crude oil inventories of 2.618 million barrels for the week ending April 2.
Analysts have forecast a smaller draw of 1.436 million barrels for the week.
In the previous week, the API reported an increase in oil inventory of 3.910 million barrels after analysts predicted a much smaller build of 107,000 barrels.
Plains All American tanks at Main Cushing area from 2 April.
After the oil prices picked up on Monday, oil prices traded the day before the release of the data as fears in the market subsided over additional supplies that could potentially be brought to market should talks on the Iranian nuclear deal end with the lifting of US sanctions.
At 16:02 EDT, WTI was trading at $ 59.40, or 1.28% higher on the day. Brent crude is trading at $ 62.79 a barrel or 1.03% higher on the day.
As U.S. oil supplies shrank, U.S. oil production rose moderately to 11.1 million bpd during the week ended March 26, according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration. This is the second increase in so many weeks.
The API reported an increase in petrol inventory of 4.553 million barrels for the week ending April 2 – following the previous week’s intake of 6.012 million barrels. Analysts had expected a draw of 221,000 barrels for the week.
Distillate stocks recorded an increase in inventory of 2.810 million barrels for the week this week, after increasing by 2.595 million barrels last week.
Cushing inventory figures dropped by 84,000 barrels.
Following the release of the data, at 16:34 EDT, the WTI standard traded at $ 59.45 – $ 1 from last week’s levels. Brent crude is trading at $ 62.83 a barrel.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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