Commercial crude oil inventories contracted more than expected last week, according to figures released Wednesday by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), despite a new production record in the United States.
( GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / BRANDON BELL )
During the week ending November 29, these reserves fell by 5.1 million barrels, while analysts only expected a decline of 1.6 million barrels.
This surprise is largely attributable to a surge in activity at American refineries, which used 93.3% of their capacities during the week in question, compared to only 90.5% previously.
“There are no planned maintenance operations, which has allowed us to reach one of the highest levels of the year,” commented Matt Smith of Kpler.
To find evidence of a higher rate, you have to go back almost five months.
This blow was such that neither the doubling of imports (+115%) nor the reduction in exports (-9% over one week) managed to compensate for it, any more than the increase in production.
The United States put on the market 13.51 million barrels of crude per day last week, an absolute record, compared to 13.49 during the previous period.
According to the EIA, volumes of refined products delivered to the US market, considered an implicit indicator of demand, were 2.5% lower than the previous week.
This decline is mainly due to the propane and propylene category, which mainly includes products intended for industry, whose volumes have been cut in half (-51%).
This reduction in demand and the increase in production weighed more heavily on operators than the drop in stocks, and prices immediately fell.
Around 4:30 p.m. GMT, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in January fell by 0.64%, to $69.49.
