Strong increase in US crude oil stocks, but sharp draw at Cushing

The aimless sideways trading on the oil market continues: prices climbed by just shy of 2% yesterday and are shedding some of these gains again today. Brent is trading at below $48 per barrel again, while WTI is priced at under $45 per barrel, notes Commerzbank. The news backdrop is somewhat contradictory at present and is thus providing little in the way of orientation. 

For example, the API reported after close of trading yesterday that US crude oil stocks had risen by a surprisingly steep 4.6 million barrels last week. This was partly offset by a 1.2 million barrel decline in crude oil stocks at Cushing, however. The US Department of Energy will be publishing the official inventory figures this afternoon. 

Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), also generated confusion yesterday. First, he was cited in an Austrian newspaper as saying that he expects to see an oil price of $45 per barrel for quite some time. This statement was later denied by the IEA, however, though Birol's remark that the oil price would remain low for some quarters to come was left standing.