Oil advanced as shrinking U.S. crude inventories added to expectations of a tighter global supply outlook after Saudi Arabia surprised markets by pledging to slice production the next two months.
Of all the wild, unprecedented swings in financial markets since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, none has been more jaw-dropping than Monday’s collapse in a key segment of U.S. oil trading.
U.S. refineries processed a record amount of crude in July, surpassing an average of 18 million barrels a day for the first time.
U.S. crude production fell for the first time this year in April, reining in exuberance over rapidly growing domestic output.
The Energy Information Adminstration (EIA) has projected an increase in US crude oil and other liquid fuels production beyond 2017.
Oil held losses below $60 a barrel as near- record U.S. production prolonged an oversupply amid the lowest trading volatility in eight months. Futures were little changed in New York after declining 1 percent on Thursday. U.S. crude stockpiles remained 84 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of the year while the nation pumped near the fastest pace in more than three decades of weekly government data. A measure of price fluctuations in West Texas Intermediate dropped to the lowest level since Oct. 29.