Oil in Longest Rally in 3 Months on Signs of U.S. Stockpile Drop

Futures advanced for a fifth day, having added 5.5 percent since Oct. 25, while in London Brent crude rose to a new two-year high. Crude stockpiles dropped by 5.09 million barrels, while gasoline supplies fell by 7.7 million last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. A Bloomberg survey also forecast a decline in oil inventories — the fifth in six weeks — before government data Wednesday.

Global benchmark Brent crude topped $60 a barrel last month for the first time since July 2015, while West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. marker, is set for the highest close in two years as Saudi Arabia and Russia signaled support for extending supply cuts well into 2018. The market was also buoyed by conflict between the Iraqi central government and Kurdish forces that threatened crude production from northern fields in the OPEC nation.

“U.S. stock draws have been leading and continue to lead the market higher,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director at Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland.

An Energy Information Administration report Wednesday is forecast to show U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.3 million barrels last week, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Gasoline stockpiles probably dropped by 1.55 million barrels. Daily exports of American crude climbed for the sixth time in seven weeks to 1.92 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 20, according to EIA data.
more detail at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-01/oil-extends-gains-above-54-on-signs-of-u-s-stockpile-decline