Oil rebounds from 2-month low as investors weigh US supplies

Bloomberg

Oil rebounded after closing at the lowest level in two months as equity markets increased and U.S. data showed crude stockpiles slid.
Futures gained as much as 1.7 percent in New York, paring Wednesday’s 4.4 percent slump, as European stocks advanced. U.S. supplies fell an eighth week, the longest losing streak since June 2015, while gasoline inventories unexpectedly grew, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Oil has traded between about $44 and $51 a barrel since early June after almost doubling from a 12-year low in February amid a spate of supply disruptions and falling U.S. output. The fuel surplus means American refiners may process less oil even as crude supplies remain more than 100 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of the year.
“We are seeing some upside correction this morning which is due to the impressive U.S. stock market performance yesterday,” Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd., said in in a report. “Crude oil figures looked bullish at first sight” in yesterday’s inventory data, adding to signs that “it is not crude but products that threaten any potential price recovery,” he said.
West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery rose as much as 77 cents to $45.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $45.05 at 9:14 a.m. London time. The grade fell $2.05 to settle at $44.75 on Wednesday, the lowest since May 10. Total volume traded was about 10 percent below the 100-day average.
Brent for September settlement gained as much as 70 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $46.96 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract dropped 4.6 percent to $46.26 a barrel on Wednesday. The global benchmark crude traded at 72-cent premium to WTI for September delivery.

U.S. Supplies
Nationwide supplies fell 2.55 million barrels to 521.8 million last week, EIA data show. Inventories remain at the highest seasonal level in at least a decade. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a decline of 3 million barrels. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said stockpiles had climbed 2.2 million barrels.
Gasoline inventories rose further above their five-year average. Demand for the fuel fell during the week that included the U.S. Independence Day holiday — usually a peak consumption period — as output
increased.