By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - U.S. crude stockpiles fell less than expected last week, exacerbating worries about the demand outlook at a time when the new Omicron Covid variant threatens travel demand.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $66.94 barrel on the news, after settling down 5.4% at $66.18 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 747,000 barrels for the week ended Nov. 23. That compared with a build of 2.3 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting a draw of about 1.7 million barrels.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories rose by 2.2M barrels last week, and distillate stocks increased by 800,000 barrels.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies fell by about 1.24 million barrels last week.
Oil prices slumped Tuesday, as market participants fear that the new Covid variant's impact on energy demand could force OPEC and its allies to delay plans to increase production at their meeting on Thursday.
OPEC+ confirming its plan to increase production is “virtually unimaginable in view of the latest market developments,” Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) said in a note