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Oil prices closed with a sharp jump on Thursday, buoyed by signs that excess supplies are not increasing as rapidly as expected and signs of a slight increase in fuel demand, which has collapsed due to global restrictions linked to the coronavirus.
WTI crude oil traded in the United States shot up 25.1% to $ 18.84 a barrel, posting its highest daily rise and highest level since April 22.
The inability to store excess fuel, the prospects of lower demand and plans for production cuts have led to high volatility in prices.
Thus, in the month, the barrel of WTI accumulated a decrease of 8.01%, which was far less marked than in March when it fell 54.24%.
Meanwhile, Brent oil closed in London with an advance of 12.11% at US $ 25.37 a barrel.
US oil inventories rose 9 million barrels last week to 527.6 million barrels, according to data from the government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), well below the 10.6 million barrel increase. Estimated by analysts for a Reuters poll.
Gasoline stocks fell by 3.7 million barrels, from a record high seen last week, with a slight rise in fuel demand that offset the rebound in refinery production.
“If we see continuity in this trend in the coming weeks, this could suggest that the oil market has left behind the worst of the crisis,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategies at ING.
In another positive investor factor, Chinese group Sinopec said Thursday that its daily sales of refined crude products had risen and were now more than 90% of the levels detected before the first coronavirus outbreaks emerged.
But concerns about global storage capacity persist. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that global capacity could peak in mid-June and that energy demand could drop by a record 6% in 2020.
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