The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $33.93 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with $32.71 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.
The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Minas (Indonesia), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).
Meanwhile, Market Watch reports that crude-oil prices continued to rise in Asian trade Thursday, driven by an unexpected decline in U.S. crude inventories.
U.S. crude-oil supplies fell by 4.9 million barrels in the week ended April 1, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. The prior week, crude stockpiles stood at the highest level in more than 80 years. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected stockplies to rise by 3.3 million barrels.
The inventory drawdown was due to a decline in imports and an increase in refinery activity, EIA said. Refineries ran at 91.4% of capacity last week, up from 90.4% in the prior week.
“In theory, the drop in imports could be the result of delayed arrivals, an effort by refiners to reduce excess stocks, or a lack of availability [of crude oil],” said Tim Evans, a Citi Futures analyst.
The decline doesn’t necessarily indicate that the global market is rebalancing, Evans said, adding that would be true only if a lack of available barrels was the cause.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in MayCLK6, 0.21% traded at $38.15 a barrel, up $0.40, or 1.1%. June Brent crudeLCOM6, 0.18% on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.30, or 0.9%, to $40.14 a barrel.
Despite the prolonged collapse in prices, crude suppliers around the world have been pumping at top speed to defend their market share. Analysts say as supply continues to outpace demand, prices are unlikely to stage a sustained rally without a drastic tightening in supply.
Since the beginning of the year, the industry has been waiting for some price supportive action from the major oil producers, who have tossed around the possibility of a coordinated production freeze. Several key players, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, are expected to meet on April 17 in Doha to discuss the plan.
“Only a feeble mind sees a freeze in production as good news! It is the worst news as it guarantees over production and rising inventories. But, the market was so desperate for some good news it mistakenly took the freeze as good news!” said Dr. Fereidun Fesharaki, the chairman of consulting group FGE.
Fesharaki said he doesn’t expect the Doha meeting to result in anything significant.
Earlier this week, oil prices fell after Saudi Arabia said the kingdom will freeze its oil production only if Iran agrees to curb its output. Tehran, however, has vowed to keep ramping up production until output rises to pre-sanction levels.
“Investor sentiment towards oil is likely to remain cautious until the 17 April meeting when key oil producers again try and reach an agreement on controlling supply,” said ANZ Research.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for May RBK6, 0.11% — the benchmark gasoline contract —rose 145 points to $1.4092 a gallon, while May diesel traded at $1.1505, 102 points higher.
ICE gasoil for April changed hands at $337.25 a metric ton, up $8.25 from Wednesday’s settlement.
