The Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced a greater-than-expected drop in US crude stockpiles, which helped to support crude oil prices, which increased by 0.41% to settle at 6,858. The EIA reported that for the week ending July 5, crude stocks dropped by 3.4 million barrels to 445.1 million, a substantial decrease from the projected draw of 1.3 million.
Additionally, there was a 702,000-barrel decline in crude stocks at the delivery hub in Cushing, Oklahoma. Furthermore, there was a 317,000-barrel-per-day rise in refinery crude runs, and utilization rates climbed by 1.9 percentage points.
In contrast, US petrol stockpiles fell by 2 million barrels to 229.7 million barrels, exceeding the projected draw of 0.6 million barrels, and distillate stockpiles increased by 4.9 million barrels to 124.6 million barrels, against the anticipated increase of 0.8 million barrels.
By 2025, the EIA predicts that the world’s oil demand will have reached 104.7 million barrels per day (bpd), somewhat more than the 104.6 million bpd supply that is expected, indicating a possible shortfall in the future. OPEC’s expectation of robust growth in global oil demand likely to increase by 2.25 million barrels per day in 2024 and 1.85 million barrels per day in 2025 corroborates this outlook.