Oil futures were lower for the fifth straight session on Thursday, unable to shake off weakness linked to a rise in U.S. crude investments.
West Texas Raw Intermediate for delivery in April CL.1,
CLJ21,
it went off 57 cents, or 0.9%, at $ 64.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude BRN00,
BRNK21,
the global benchmark went off 52 cents, or 0.8%, at $ 67.48 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
The Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that U.S. crude deposits rose 2.4 million barrels for the week ending March 12th. The increase followed increases reported by the group in each of the previous three weeks. Gasoline deposits, which had fallen sharply in the previous weeks, rose as a result of distillery closures.
Gasoline had been an engine pulling the energy rally higher before their recent withdrawal, Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities, said in a note. The construction of a Wednsday gasoline store could “put the brakes on that finesse,” he said.
Slow vaccine distribution in Europe remains a pressure on crude, analysts said, raising questions about the pace of recovery in demand for crude.