The oil prices snapped four-day winning streak on Thursday after the American Petroleum Institute estimated the inventory build will be 1.404 million barrels this week after analysts predicted a draw of 1.367 million barrels.
As of 1340 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, shed $0.59 (-0.67 percent) to reach $87.85 a barrel. On the other hand, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price reached $86.21 a barrel, down by $0.75 (-0.86 percent).
The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $88.08 a barrel with a gain of 1.78 percent, Arab Light was available at $88.20 a barrel with an increase of 0.46 percent and the price of Russian Sokol jumped to $90.19 a barrel with an increase of 0.43 percent.
Despite going down, oil is trading near a seven-year high. According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), the crude inventories shed some 74 million barrels since the start of 2021, and about 17 million barrels since the start of 2020. In the week prior, the API reported a draw in crude oil inventories of 1.077 million barrels after analysts had predicted a larger draw of 1.95 million barrels. In recent days, supply concerns have arisen after Yemen’s Houthi group attacked the United Arab Emirates (UAE), OPEC’s third-largest producer, while Russia, the world’s second-largest oil producer, has built up a large troop presence near Ukraine’s border, stoking fears of invasion. The tensions raise the prospect of supply disruptions at a time when OPEC+ is already having difficulty meeting its agreed target to add 400,000 barrels per day of supply each month.
