WTI climbs to fresh 2019 highs above $58 after weekly EIA report

• EIA reports larger than expected draw in crude oil stocks.
• Power outage in Venezuela weighs on exports.

Crude oil prices received an additional boost from the weekly oil market report published by the Energy Information Administration earlier in the session and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate rose to its highest level since mid-November at $58.06. As of writing, the WTI was trading at $57.70, adding 1.15% on a daily basis.

The EIA today announced that crude oil stocks in the U.S. decreased by 3.9 million barrels in the week ending March 8 compared to analysts’ estimate for an increase of 2.65 million barrels. Commenting on the data, “It’s a big crude oil draw for this time of year. Usually you see builds as a function of the refinery utilization rate,”  Bob Yawger,  director of energy futures at Mizuho, told Reuters.

On Tuesday the EIA reported that it slashed its global oil demand growth forecasts both for 2019 and 2020 but  revised down its output forecasts as well to support crude oil prices. Meanwhile, the 6-day long power outage in Venezuela continues to hurt the oil production and weigh on exports to provide an additional boost to oil.  

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