NYMEX crude quoted higher in Asia after API shows mixed stocks data

Investing.com - Crude oil prices were quoted higher in Asia on Wednesday after industry data showed U.S. oil inventories mixed in the past week.

The American Petroleum Institute said that crude oil stocks rose 2.9 million barrels last week, while distillates fell 296,000 barrels and gasoline stocks gained 530,000 barrels. The figures set the tone for more closely watched data from the U.S. Department of Energy due on Wednesday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of WTI crude oil for delivery in April was quoted at $50.29 a barrel, up 0.40%.

Overnight, oil prices surged on Tuesday, moving up sharply during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address in front of Congress, before falling slightly back, as futures continued on a volatile path.

In a forceful denunciation of Iran, Netanyahu made reference to purported Iranian efforts to gain a foothold in Yemen to help build its oil reserves.

If the Shiite-backed Houthi-led movement in Yemen is successful, Netanyahu added, Iran could gain a "chokepoint" on the Bab al Mandeb Strait located at the southern tip of Yemen.

In combination with the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, the occupation of the Bab al Mandeb Strait would give Iran "a second chokepoint on the world's oil supply," Netanayahu said.

Further sanctions against Iran could squeeze the nation's oil exports, Netanyahu added.

Elsewhere, prices moved up amid expectations that Saudi Arabia could raise its official selling price for crude oil loading for Asian buyers. Traders polled by Platts expect an increase in Arab Light OSP by "70 cents to $1.30 a barrel," for April delivery.

The forecasts were released shortly before King Salman, the new king of Saudi Arabia, announced several subtle changes among the nation's energy policymaker team on Tuesday. Of the changes, the king's most notable move was the promotion of his son Prince Adulaziz bin Salman from deputy oil minister to assistant oil minister – a position he held for numerous years before ascending to his current position.

Meanwhile, a prominent oil trader reversed his hedge fund's bearish stance on crude oil prices in a letter to investors. "The only question is how long it will take for these prices to work their magic," Astenbeck Capital Management co-founder Andrew Hall wrote in the hedge fund's March Investor Letter. "We think it might happen more quickly than many expect."

Hall disagrees with forecasts that WTI crude could remain in the range of $45-$50 a barrel on a long-term basis.

"For that reason we have closed out all of our bearish bets and have started adding to our bullish ones," Hall wrote. "We might be premature but think the chance of seeing new lows for oil prices – other than possibly at the very front of the WTI curve is relatively small."

On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, prices for April deliveries of brent crude oil rose 1.73% or 1.04 to $61.23 a barrel on Tuesday.