fundamental News - OIL
Oil prices lost ground on Thursday, easing from their highest levels in
more than a month as OPEC+ producers stuck to a plan to boost production
and U.S. fuel stockpiles surged amid declining demand.
Meanwhile, TC Energy's 590,000-bpd Keystone oil pipeline was shut on
Tuesday evening for unplanned maintenance, the company said on
Wednesday, as parts of western Canada grappled with frigid winter
weather.
The global benchmark Brent crude futures fell 87 cents, or 1.08%, to $79.93 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 62 cents, or 0.8%, to $77.23 a barrel.
On Wednesday, both contracts climbed to their highest since late November.
OPEC+, a group that includes members of the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, agreed on
Tuesday to add another 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of supply in
February, as it has done each month since August.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell last week while gasoline inventories
surged more than 10 million barrels, the biggest weekly build since
April 2020, as supplies backed up at refineries due to reduced fuel
demand.
Minutes from a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that showed
policymakers may have to raise rates more quickly than markets
anticipated put additional pressure on oil prices.
U.S. stocks slid and Treasury yields jumped on Wednesday after the
meeting minutes were released. The minutes also indicated the Fed could
reduce its overall asset holdings to tame high inflation.
Expectation today: neutral