Industry
Oil prices fell for the fifth day Thursday after official data showed a steady rise in U.S. crude and fuel investments, while the ever-scaling pandemic slashed demand outlook.
PHOTO FILE: Crude oil is bottled in this photo photo June 1, 2017. REUTERS / Thomas White / Photo
TOKYO: Oil prices fell for the fifth day Thursday after official data showed a steady rise in U.S. crude and fuel investments, while the ever-scaling pandemic slashed the demand outlook.
Brent crude fell 12 cents, or 0.2per per cent, at US $ 67.88 a barrel before 0119 GMT after falling by 0.6per per cent on Wednesday. U.S. oil was also down 12 cents, or 0.2per percent, at US $ 64.48 a barrel, after falling 0.3per percent the previous session.
Government data on Wednesday showed U.S. crude deposits have been up for four weeks just after refineries in the south were shut down due to bad cold weather. An industry report estimating a fall of a million barrels had raised hopes that the run in benefits could have stalled.
“Even with the continued recovery in distilling activity, U.S. crude stocks rose last week,” Capital Economics said in a messenger note.
“We suspect stocks will soon decline as distilling activity rises further and crude production remains stable,” Capital said, noting that refineries are “returning to fast online. “
U.S. crude deposits rose 2.4 million barrels last week, Tuesday’s industry report estimated a decline of 1 million barrels. Analysts had on average expected an increase of 3 million barrels.
Gasoline and diesel stocks rose against expectations among analysts for declines.
In terms of demand, several European countries have stopped using the COVID-19 vaccine at AstraZeneca due to concerns about possible side effects.
Germany is also seeing an increase in coronavirus cases, while Italy is planning a national lockdown for the Easter lock and France will introduce stricter restrictions.
(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Michael Perry)