US crude oil inventories fell while output stagnates

US crude oil inventories declined last week, stronger than forecasted, by 1.66M barrels. To the same week a year ago, inventories were 9.4% lower. While commercial storage remains high by historical standards, Strategic Petroleum Reserves continue to decline, reaching their lowest level since October 2003.

Interestingly, production has persisted at 11m b/d since last July. The doubling of the number of oil rigs in the previous eight months has so far only helped maintain the status quo in production.

On the one hand, this is potentially good news for oil and removes the risks of oversupply of black gold. But, on the other, this data is not strong enough to break bearish resistance in the area of 2-year highs in Brent and WTI.

The FxPro Analyst Team