Nymex crude oil traded slightly higher by 0.1 percent on Thursday on account of dollar weakness. Rise in oil prices was capped due to unexpected rise in US crude oil inventories coupled with weak sentiments in the global equity markets. Oil touched an intra-day high of $ 100.93/bbl and closed at $ 100.40/bbl yesterday.
In order to control rising oil prices, OPEC is expected to increase its oil output by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) ahead in the meeting in Vienna on 8th June. This would be OPEC’s first rise since
2007. The current output of OPEC stands at 24.84 million bpd and is expected to rise to 26.34 million bpd.
EIA Inventory Data
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its weekly inventory report showed an unexpected rise in inventory levels of crude oil. As per reported figures, crude oil inventories rose sharp by 2.9 million barrels to reach 373.8 million barrels. Gasoline stocks rose by 2.6 barrels to 212.3 million barrels, whereas distillates decreased sharply by 1 million barrels to reach 140.1 million barrels in the same week.
Natural gas
Natural Gas Inventories increased
Report released by the US Energy Department yesterday showed that natural gas stocks increased less than expected by 83 billion cubic feet (bcf) for the week ending 27 May.
Outlook
We expect crude oil prices to come under pressure today as market sentiments remain choppy ahead of the US jobs report scheduled at 6.00 pm 1ST today. Also, the expected move by OPEC to raise its supply will put pressure on the commodity.
