Oil Climbs to Two-Year High as Stockpiles Fall Before OPEC Meets

January futures rose as much as 2.2 percent in New York, the highest since mid-2015. U.S. inventories fell by 6.36 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. That’s more than forecast in a Bloomberg survey, which shows a drop of 2.2 million barrels ahead of government data later Wednesday.

Oil has risen this month on speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners will decide to prolong supply cuts beyond March when they meet in Vienna next week. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader, has been reducing exports as well as production, with shipments in September dropping to the lowest since March 2011, according to official data submitted to the JODI global database.

“It does appear the only way is up for oil,” said Michael McCarthy, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. “A lot of traders are speculating about the potential outcome of the OPEC meeting. Expectations are high and that could lead to disappointment if OPEC and its partners don’t deliver, but it doesn’t seem many are prepared to take the risk of that happening.”

U.S. crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI and the biggest oil-storage hub, dropped by 1.8 million barrels last week, the API said, according to people familiar with the data. Gasoline inventories expanded by 869,000 barrels, API data show.
more at:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-21/oil-extends-gains-on-signs-u-s-crude-stockpiles-resume-declines