Oil traders and analysts are expecting large volumes of crude to draw from storage tanks across the United States in coming weeks.
It would be the most tangible sign of an inventory overhang reduction that has punished prices over the last two years.
A reduction would show the market is finally reversing course after years of stock builds that left a worldwide overhang of half a billion barrels of crude oil and refined products.
Supplies have remained stubbornly high for months, disappointing traders who were expecting OPEC cuts to help rebalance the market. But traders interviewed said seasonally unusual spring drawdowns in the United States, record refining runs, and big exports to Asia and Latin America as signals that sharp declines in crude stocks could be coming.
Some traders said that they expect as much as 10 million barrel per week in draws soon, although others forecasted three to four million barrels a week. U.S. crude stocks peaked at 533 million barrels in March, and were at 516 million as of last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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