Oil prices settle higher after supply disruptions; OPEC+ meeting eyed

November 30, 2023 07:52 AM AEDT | By Investing

Oil prices settle higher after supply disruptions; OPEC+ meeting eyed

U.S. weekly stockpiles spring upside surprise

U.S. weekly crude stockpiles rose by roughly 1.6M barrels in the week ended Nov. 14, confounding expectations of a draw of about 933,000 barrels.

Gasoline inventories, one of the products that crude is refined into, rose by roughly 1.8M barrels, well above expectations of a build of 229,000 barrels while distillate stockpiles jumped by 5.2M barrels, compared with expectations for a fall of 394,000 barrels.

Supply disruptions help crude prices

A severe storm in the Black Sea region has reportedly disrupted up to 2 million barrels per day of oil exports from the region, as it resulted in Kazakhstan’s three biggest oil fields cutting output by 56%.

Additionally, the oil market also found support from a drop in U.S. crude inventories, with stocks falling by 817,000 barrels last week, according to data from industry body American Petroleum Institute.

Official data is scheduled for release later in the session, and if this draw is confirmed it comes after a bumper, 8.7 million build in the week before. U.S. inventories had seen four straight weeks of builds as fuel demand appeared to be cooling with the winter season.

Output cuts in focus ahead of OPEC+ meeting looms large

Hopes of potential output cuts by major oil producers were boosted ahead of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, including Russia, meeting due Thursday, were boosted by a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday, suggesting that a cut of as much as 1 million barrels a day was under consideration.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of OPEC+ have already pledged total oil output cuts of about 5 million barrels per day (bpd), about 5% of daily global demand, in a series of steps that started in late 2022.

This includes Saudi Arabia's additional voluntary production cut of 1 million bpd, which is due to expire at the end of December, and a Russian export cut of 300,000 bpd until the end of the year.

(Peter Nurse and Ambar Warrick contributed to this report)

This article first appeared in Investing.com

Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media Pty Ltd (Kalkine Media, we or us), ACN 629 651 672 and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. The principal purpose of the Content is to educate and inform. The Content does not contain or imply any recommendation or opinion intended to influence your financial decisions and must not be relied upon by you as such. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable, but is NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stocks of the company(s) or engage in any investment activity under discussion. Kalkine Media is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice through this platform. Users should make their own enquiries about any investments and Kalkine Media strongly suggests the users to seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice), as necessary. Kalkine Media hereby disclaims any and all the liabilities to any user for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising from any use of the Content on this website, which is provided without warranties. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music that may be used on this website are copyright to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music used on this website unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used on this website are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have used reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated as or found to be necessary.