NEW YORK: Crude futures rose for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, hitting 2016 highs above $50 a barrel on supply outages led by the sabotage of oil facilities in Nigeria, before paring gains as glut concerns resurfaced after US data showed a surprise build in supplies.
US crude stocks fell for the third consecutive week to June 3, sliding by 3.2 million barrels versus analysts’ expectations for a 2.7 million-barrel drawdown, government data showed.
Brent crude was up 76 cents at $52.20 a barrel after hitting $52.54 earlier in the session, its highest since October.
US crude futures were up 65 cents at $51.01 a barrel after hitting $51.27, the highest since July.
But gasoline stock piles grew by 1 million barrels and distillates, including diesel and heating oil, rose 1.8 million barrels, versus forecasts of drawdowns.
This indicates a sentiment that gasoline demand will weaken more than expected or that the crude glut will be reflected by a gasoline glut, said Troy Vincent at energy data provider Clip per Data.
“The gasoline build was a big surprise, specially since the driving season is underway,” said Tariq Zahir, managing partner at Tyche Capital Advisors.
{{/usCountry}}“The gasoline build was a big surprise, specially since the driving season is underway,” said Tariq Zahir, managing partner at Tyche Capital Advisors.
{{/usCountry}}Prices were also supported by data showing China’s crude oil imports in May hit their highest in more than six years.