Additional IEA stock release weighs on crude oil prices

Crude oil prices posted significant losses on Wednesday as the IEA announced an additional 60 Mb release from strategic stocks of its members, on top of the 180 Mb release from US SPR announced last week by the US President Biden. Brent 1^st nearby prices dropped to an intraday low at $100.54/b.

In the US, the weekly EIA crude stock report revealed a 2.4 Mb rebound in crude stocks probably thanks to the SPR release launched last week. In addition, US crude production increased further to 11.8 Mbd last week, up 0.1 Mbd from a week earlier which may have played into the bearish sentiment as well.

Note that the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on the Russian Black Sea has resumed oil shipments on Wednesday after 10 days of no maritime exports.

Brent prices rebounded slightly this morning and continue to show a triangle structure which highlights the current uncertainty surrounding crude oil markets, between weakening demand in China and massive stock releases on the bearish side and concerns over Russian oil supply on the bullish side.