Oil surges to two-week high as US crude stockpiles decline

Bloomberg

Oil rallied to the highest since early December as US crude inventories decline more than anticipated.
West Texas Intermediate futures for February delivery edged above $78 a barrel. US crude stockpiles fall 5.90 million barrels last week, according to an Energy Information Administration (EIA) report on Wednesday. Trading volumes have generally been below average this week ahead of the holiday period.
Crude remains on track for the first back-to-back quarterly decline since 2019 as further tightening by leading central banks risks tipping the US and European Union into recession. Traders are also tracking the impact of China’s easing of harsh virus restrictions Russia’s seaborne oil shipments collapsed in the first week of Group-of-Seven sanctions targeting Moscow’s petroleum revenues, a potential source of alarm for governments around the world. In North America, meanwhile, TC Energy Corp. pushed back the full return of its Keystone pipeline by a week.
Meanwhile, China imported record quantities of Russian liquefied natural gas last month, while sales of crude oil and coal also surged as other buyers shunned Russian energy products as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.
Overall purchases of Russian energy, including oil products, hit $8 billion in November, from a revised $7.8 billion in the prior month. The total now stands at $68 billion since the war in Ukraine began, from $41 billion over the same period last year. The record for a single month was the $8.4 billion set in August.