The benchmark crude WTI is down at the time of writing amid a three-day sell-off in broader indices. The latest numbers from the American Petroleum Institute indicate commercial oil inventories in the U.S. decreased by 1.2 million barrels during the week ending June 16. In addition, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly Crude Oil Inventories report, which measures the weekly change in the number of barrels of commercial crude oil held by U.S. firms. Compared to last week, inventories decreased by 3.831 million barrels. For reference, economists were expecting an increase of 1.873 million barrels week-over-week. This means that demand was stronger than anticipated.
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Further, while Mr. Powell sees more rate hikes in the offing, the Bank of England has upped the benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 5%. Iran has continued to up its oil output and shipments, with oil exports from the U.S.-sanctioned country now at multi-year highs. Meanwhile, concerns about demand uptick from China continue to linger, with its recent rate cuts failing to cheer up oil traders.
Natural gas is also down today and remains nearly 36% lower so far this year. Nonetheless, technicals indicate the formation of a nice rounding pattern over the past three months, which points to possible price gains over the coming weeks. Data from the Energy Information Administration indicates natural gas inventory in the U.S. rose by 95bcf to 2,729bcf during the week ending June 16.
In sync with the weakness in the energy sector, the United States Oil Fund ETF (USO) too is down 3.95% to $62.47 at the time of writing and remains 17.65% lower over the past year. Here is a list of energy stocks that can be influenced by the latest developments in the energy markets.
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