U.S. crude oil futures saw a slight increase in post-settlement trading on Tuesday, following the American Petroleum Institute’s report of a bigger-than-anticipated drop in weekly domestic crude stocks.
The U.S. benchmark traded at $75.89 a barrel after the report, rebounding from a 2.4% decrease to $75.53 a barrel earlier.
Crude inventories fell by approximately 3.4 million barrels for the week ending August 23, surpassing economists’ expectations of a 3 million barrel decline. This compares to a 347,000 barrel build reported in the previous week.
In addition, gasoline stockpiles decreased by 1.9 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, dropped by 1.4 million barrels.
The official Energy Information Administration (EIA) report is scheduled for release on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).
Analysis:
This news of a larger-than-expected decline in crude stocks could potentially lead to an increase in crude oil prices in the short term. Investors and traders may want to keep a close eye on the EIA report for further confirmation of these inventory levels, as it could impact their investment decisions in the oil market.