Burton Mills - Supply Concerns Cause US Oil Prices to Rise

Burton Mills - Unrelenting demand for gasoline in US adds to supply concerns.

Burton Mills analysts say US oil futures prices increased by nearly 2 percent this week, boosted by a fifth consecutive week of inventory drawdown. The robust domestic demand also fueled supply concerns over US sanctions to be implemented on Iran in November.

According to recent official data, US crude stocks fell to 394.1 million barrels last week, reaching the lowest point in more than three years. Gasoline inventory also plunged 1.7 million barrels which Burton Mills analysts say was more than the anticipated 100,000 barrel decrease.

Burton Mills analysts say that although US gasoline consumption is usually seasonal, increasing in the summer months and declining slightly during autumn, demand has been unrelenting in recent weeks reaching an estimated consumption of 9.5 million barrels per day.

US crude futures recently reached $71.12 a barrel, an increase of 1.8 percent. Brent futures also gained, but the increase was less significant with the global benchmark ending 0.5 percent higher at $79.40.

In the previous session, Brent crude increased 1.3 percent following a report that Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter of oil, was happy with prices over the $80 mark. Burton Mills analysts say this showed that producers would not try to up production to push prices down.

Next week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is due to meet in Algeria to discuss how to go about allocating supply increases within their network to balance the loss of supply from Iran.     

Contact: Biz City News - Lane 167, Section 8, Minquan East Road, Neihu District, Taipei City, Taiwan 114. info@bizcitynews.com       

Source: Burton Mills