Update: WTI Crude Oil Rises on Big Draw on U.S. Inventories Ahead of OPEC+ Meeting
02:56 PM EDT, 06/30/2021 (MT Newswires) -- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose on Wednesday but surrendered some early gains after the Energy Information Administration's weekly report failed to confirm an 8.2-million barrel drop in U.S. inventories reported a day earlier.
WTI crude for August delivery closed up US$0.49 to US$73.47 per barrel, after earlier touching US$74.14, Marketwatch reported. August Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up US$0.37 to US$75.13 while Western Canada Select was up US$0.42 to US$59.82 per barrel.
The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported U.S. oil inventories fell by 8.15 million barrels last week, the biggest draw on supply since January. However the EIA reported a 6.7 million barrel drop, while gasoline inventories rose by 1.5 million barrels.
"EIA Crude oil storage was down 6.7 million to 452.4 million in today's report. Big number, but not the 8.15 million whopper that the API posted up on Tuesday afternoon. I think the spec trader was a big buyer going into the number, but pulled the plug rather quickly after futures spiked in the minutes after the number hit the tape," Robert Yawger, director of energy futures for Mizuho Securities USA, said in a note.
OPEC+ will hold its monthly ministerial meeting on Thursday to decide on raising supplies, amid reports of arguments among the members of how much additional production the group will allow. The group is expected to raise output by at least 500,000 barrels per day in August.