Breaking News: U.S. Crude Oil Futures Surge After API Reports Unexpected Decline in Stocks
Investing.com — U.S. crude oil futures were given a boost in settlement trading Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute reported a much larger-than-expected decline in weekly domestic crude stocks.
The U.S. benchmark traded at $78.65 a barrel following the report, settling up 2.1% at $78.35 a barrel.
Crude oil inventories decreased by about 5.2 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 9, compared with a build of 180,000 barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting a decline of about 2 million barrels.
Gasoline stockpiles fell by 3.7 million barrels, while distillate inventories increased by 612,000 barrels.
The official EIA report is due Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).
Analysis: Oil prices settled lower Tuesday, ending a five-day winning streak on waning fears of the conflict in the Middle East expanding and threatening global crude supplies. Iran’s indication that it could back off plans to strike Israel if Gaza-ceasefire talks succeed also contributed to the decline.