WTI Crude Oil surges as supply cuts outweigh China demand woes

Futures on US West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil surged to fresh highs on Wednesday, as supply cuts from top oil producers countered China demand concerns and recent US oil stock build.

Yesterday Saudi Arabia’s cabinet reaffirmed its support for precautionary measures by OPEC+ members to stabilize the market.

Last week, Saudi Arabia extended its voluntary oil production cut of 1 million barrels per day to the end of September and also left the door open for further moves.

In addition, Russia announced it would reduce oil exports by 300,000 barrels per day next month.

Still, the commodity faced some selling pressure after the release of the latest US crude oil inventory data by the API.

The weekly data by the American Petroleum Institute showed crude oil inventories had increased by 4.067 million barrels in the week ending August 4th, following a 15.4 million barrel drop in the preceding week. In comparison, analysts on average had expected a decrease by 0.233 million barrels.

“Prices remain stable this morning despite economic headwinds helped by U.S. product draws reported by the API, albeit crude inventories built more than expected,” PVM analysts noted.

The official government inventory data will be released later today.

Pressure on oil prices also mounted after it became clear China’s crude oil imports had shrunk 18.8% in July from June to their lowest daily rate since January.

As of 12:09 GMT on Wednesday WTI Crude Oil Futures for September delivery were gaining 0.94% to trade at $83.70 per barrel, after earlier touching highs not seen since November 2022.

At the same time, Brent Oil Futures for October delivery were gaining 0.82% on the day to trade at $86.88 per barrel.