Oil futures on Thursday recouped losses from a day earlier as expectations for further declines in U.S. production helped offset a bigger-than-expected weekly increase in domestic crude supplies. Natural-gas prices also finished higher after separate data showed an increase in natural-gas inventories that was below market expectations. October West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on $1.77, or 4%, to settle at $45.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping $1.79, or 3.9%, a day earlier. Oil prices had pared some of their earlier gains in the wake of the supply data, before pushing toward session highs again.
Brent crude rose $1.31, or 2.8%, to $48.89 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. Nymex oil participated in a “broad-based risk-on rally, despite the negative numbers” released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration Thursday, said Tim Evans, chief market strategist at Long Leaf Trading Group. U.S. stocks were higher in volatile trading when Nymex prices settled. “We are seeing commodity sectors react more sensitively to the sentiment of the investment community than the internal fundamentals of a variety of different markets, including crude oil,” Evans said.
On Thursday, the EIA reported an increase of 2.6 million barrels in crude supplies for the week ended Sept. 4. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a crude-stock climb of 300,000 barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute Wednesday said supplies gained by 2.1 million barrels, according to sources. “The build in oil inventories was surprising given a drop off in U.S. production,” said John Macaluso, an analyst at Tyche Capital Advisors. But “we do expect a run of continuous [crude-supply] builds in the weeks to come as refineries enter annual maintenance season,” he said. “A big cut in refinery utilization by 1.9% is further indication that [refinery maintenance may] have started and builds will likely get even bigger.” Still, total weekly domestic oil production edged down by 83,000 barrels to 9.14 million barrels a day, EIA report showed. In a separate report issued Wednesday, the EIA said U.S. oil production fell to a nearly one-year low in August and was likely to keep falling well into 2016. But the government agency also lowered its 2015 and 2016 price estimates for WTI and Brent crude.
Meanwhile, gasoline supplies rose 400,000 barrels while distillate stockpiles climbed by one million barrels last week, according to the EIA’s petroleum inventory data. On Nymex, October gasoline settled up 3.4 cents, or 2.5%, at $1.394 a gallon, while October heating oil tacked on 3.6 cents, or 2.4%, to $1.575 a gallon.
Meanwhile, natural-gas prices added to earlier gains after the EIA reported that supplies of the commodity rose by 68 billion cubic feet for the week ended Sept. 4. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a climb of between 72 billion cubic feet and 76 billion cubic feet.