US Energy Information Administration data for the week to 12 June showed crude oil inventories falling by 8.262m barrels. That compared with a forecast draw of 4.6m barrels.<\/p>\n
The outturn implies stocks declined by 3.662m barrels more than expected, based on the forecast. The figures refer to US crude oil inventories as reported by the EIA.<\/p>\n
The significant draw in crude inventories, nearly double what was forecast, points to unexpectedly strong demand. We see this as a clear bullish signal for the oil market. This suggests consumption is robust as we head into the peak of the summer driving season.<\/p>\n
This report aligns with our view of strengthening seasonal demand. Recent data shows U.S. gasoline consumption is up nearly 2.5% from this time last year, with refinery utilization rates now exceeding 95% to meet fuel needs. This confirms that crude is being actively processed, not just sitting in storage.<\/p>\n
On the supply side, we note that OPEC+ has reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining production cuts through the third quarter. This removes a key source of potential new supply that could have offset the strong demand. The market is therefore tighter than many had anticipated just a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Given these factors, we are positioning for higher prices in the coming weeks. We believe buying call options on WTI and Brent futures for August expiration offers a favorable risk-reward profile. This strategy allows for participation in the expected upward trend through the peak demand period.<\/p>\n
Historically, oil prices often find a seasonal peak in July, and this year\u2019s setup feels very familiar. The combination of a surprise inventory draw and solid demand is reminiscent of past summer rallies. We anticipate this trend will continue and possibly accelerate as we move deeper into July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EIA reports 8.262m-barrel crude draw, beating forecasts; demand strong, OPEC+ cuts tighten supply, supporting higher oil prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":41764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[104,5,66,93,85],"class_list":["post-55313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-updates","tag-bullish","tag-commodities","tag-oil","tag-reports","tag-united-states"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}