Oil Prices Drop as US Crude Stockpiles Drop
Inventories of commercial crude slid for the third straight week, government data showed Wednesday, while oil prices fell following the World Health Organization’s report on COVID-19 vaccines’ potentially lower efficacy against the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Oil stockpiles dropped by 4.6 million barrels to 428.3 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 10, the Energy Information Administration said. Supplies were about 7% lower than the five-year average for this time of year.
Analysts had expected a decline of 2.1 million barrels, according to Investing.com. A week earlier, inventories fell by 200,000 barrels.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.4% to $70.47 a barrel while Brent slid 0.2% to $73.57 a barrel in afternoon trading. The WHO on Tuesday said that COVID-19 vaccines may have lower efficacy against the omicron variant based on preliminary evidence.
The EIA said gasoline supplies fell 700,000 barrels, about 6% below the five-year average. A week earlier, gas stockpiles increased by 3.9 million barrels.
Distillate fuel inventories decreased 2.9 million barrels, about 9% below their five-year average, compared with an increase of 2.7 million barrels a week earlier.
Crude imports fell 28,000 barrels per day last week to an average of 6.5 million barrels. Imports averaged about 6.5 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, more than 15% above the prior-year print.
Gasoline production was 10 million barrels, up from 9.6 million barrels a week earlier, while distillate output was 4.8 million barrels, down from 4.9 million barrels a week before. # Oil Prices Drop as US Crude Stockpiles Drop
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