Commercial crude oil reserves in the United States fell more than expected last week, according to figures released Wednesday by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA).
During the week ended March 4, crude inventories fell by 1.8 million net barrels, while analysts expected a drop of 1.25 million, to settle at 411.6 million.
Strategic reserves have also fallen sharply, by 2.5 million barrels.
The publication had no effect on prices, which were already firmly on the downside.
Around 4:30 p.m. GMT, the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May was down 3.97% to 122.89 dollars. In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), due in April, yielded 3.62% to 119.22 dollars.
“I don’t think the market is paying much attention to this report,” said Matt Smith, head of oil analysis at Kpler. “The numbers are quite anecdotal, at least on the headline rough number. The market is much more interested in events in Ukraine.”
He nevertheless noted, in the report, the significant increase in exports of refined products (+11%), which he sees as “one of the first signals that the flows are starting to change”, with deliveries on the rise to Europe to compensate for the absence of Russian oil, subject to a de facto embargo.
“We should soon see, in the coming weeks, an increase (in exports) on crude as we are seeing it now on” refined products, anticipated Matt Smith.
The day after the announcement of an embargo on American imports of Russian oil, crude production in the United States appeared stable in the report, at 11.6 million barrels per day (mb/d), still significantly below its level of two years ago (13.1 million).
US consumption increased slightly, to 21.2 mb/d, against 20.8 the previous week. in particular due to the acceleration in the demand for gasoline.
Fuel consumption does not seem, for the time being, affected by soaring prices at the pump, which again broke a new record in the United States on Wednesday, with a gallon (3.78 liters) at 4.25 dollars. , or 22% more than a month ago.
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