(New York) Oil prices fell on Thursday, undermined by a jump in American gasoline and diesel stocks, which questions the market about the state of demand in the United States, even if some call for putting these into perspective. numbers.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in March fell 0.84%, to close at $77.59.
As for a barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI), due in February, it dropped 0.70%, to $72.19.
Black gold has long moved in the green, always stimulated by the closure of several fields in Libya and attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
But the trend reversed after the publication of the weekly report from the American Energy Information Agency (EIA), which reported a jump in gasoline reserves, up by 10.9 million of barrels over a week.
Automotive fuel inventories had not been this high at this time in five years.
Furthermore, the volumes of refined products delivered to the American market, a figure considered as an indicator of domestic demand, plunged by 11% during the week ending December 29.
“The decline in crude oil stocks [-5,5 millions de barils] ”, higher than expectations [3 millions]“and the acceleration of refineries [93,5 % d’utilisation des capacités] was more than offset by this massive increase in refined products,” commented Matt Smith of Kpler.
In addition to gasoline, reserves of distilled products, a category which notably includes diesel, increased by 10.1 million barrels.
“The decline in demand makes sense after the pre-holiday boom,” said Matt Smith. “But an increase of this magnitude weighs on the psychology of the market. »
Andy Lipow, of Lipow Oil Associates, also put the significance of this data into perspective.
“The EIA measures demand at oil terminals and not at gas stations,” he said. “As a result, if truck drivers took leave, station stocks fell while terminal stocks increased” because they were unable to sell their goods.
For him, this is an accounting anomaly and “the demand [américaine] should rebound in the coming weeks.”