WTI drops toward $24 after EIA reports largest-ever weekly increase in US oil stocks

• Crude oil stocks in US rose by 15.2 million barrels in week ending Apr. 3rd.
• Crude oil output in US declined by 600K barrels per day in same period.
• Focus shifts to OPEC+ meeting after EIA report. 

Crude oil lost its traction after the weekly report published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that crude oil stocks in the US increased by 15.2 million barrels, the largest weekly increase on record, in the week ending April 3rd. The barrel of West Texas Intermediate, which climbed above the $25 handle earlier in the session, was last seen trading flat on the day at $24.25.

Eyes on OPEC+ headlines

Underlying details of the EIA’s report revealed that the crude oil output in the US declined by 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to register its largest weekly decline since July 2019. Moreover, products supplied, a gauge of oil demand in the US, declined by 3.4 million bpd.

“Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 18.3 million barrels a day, down by 10.7% from the same period last year,” the EIA further noted.

With the API and the EIA’s weekly reports out of the way, investors will shift their focus to headlines surrounding the virtual OPEC+ emergency meeting that will take place on Thursday. Latest developments suggest that any output cut agreement by the OPEC+ will be conditional on other producers’ reductions.

Technical levels to watch for