Oil rises on surprise draw in U.S. stocks, prospect of OPEC action

*Crude oil export pipeline.

Houston — Oil rose above $60 a barrel on Wednesday after government data showed a surprise draw in U.S. crude stocks and as the prospect of deeper output cuts by OPEC and its allies offered support.

U.S. crude stocks fell by 1.7 million barrels last week as refineries hiked crude runs by 429,000 barrels per day (bpd), the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts had expected an increase in U.S. inventories of 2.2 million barrels.

Brent crude futures were up 44 cents, or 0.74%, to $60.14 a barrel at 10:13 a.m. CDT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December delivery were up 48 cents, or 0.88%, to $54.96 per barrel.

Oil prices had fallen earlier in the session on data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showing U.S. stocks rising more than analysts had expected, by 4.5 million barrels to 437 million barrels.

The U.S. Energy Department’s report “has put some buyers in the market, but it will be interesting to see if it lasts. While this will distract from demand destruction, the market will eventually come back to it,” said Gene McGillian, vice president of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.

The draw in U.S. oil stocks appeared to have been caused by temporary market factors including higher refinery runs, rather than a fundamental firming of oil demand, and investors are still concerned about the global economy following reports of slowing growth in China and Europe, McGillian added.

A larger-than-expected decline in U.S. gasoline stocks also supported prices, analysts said. Gasoline stocks fell by 3.1 million barrels, compared with analysts expectations of a 2.3 million-barrel drop.

“The continued decline in product inventory makes for a bullish report,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. “Gasoline numbers are summer-like; that’s endemic of a good economy (in the U.S.) and people driving to work.”

Also helping to underpin prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is mulling whether to deepen production cuts amid concerns of weak demand growth next year.

OPEC and other oil producers including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, have pledged to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) until March 2020. OPEC and other non-members are scheduled to meet again Dec. 5-6.

“With the headwinds of strong U.S. producer hedging and high freight rates fading, we expect stronger Brent timespreads and higher prices in coming weeks, with upside risk to our year-end $62 per barrel forecast,” Goldman Sachs said in a note.

The investment bank expects Brent prices to continue trading around $60 a barrel in 2020.