Oil prices recover most of their early losses
US government reported a drawdown in domestic crude stocks that extended a trend of unexpected inventory declines
New York — Oil prices recovered most of their early losses on Wednesday, with Brent returning to above $50 a barrel, after the US government reported a drawdown in domestic crude stocks that extended a trend of unexpected inventory declines this autumn. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said domestic crude stockpiles fell 553,000 barrels last week, against a 1.7 million-barrel build forecast by analysts polled by Reuters. A preliminary report from trade group American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday suggested a build as high as 4.8 million barrels for the week ended October 21. Brent crude futures were down 27 cents, or 0.5%, at $50.52 a barrel by 2.39pm GMT. They earlier touched a session low of $49.65, the weakest since September 30. US crude futures were down 2 cents at $49.94, after earlier dropping to $48.87, the lowest since October 4. With last week’s drawdown, US crude stocks have fallen unexpectedly in seven of the past eight weeks. Crude stocks generally rise a...
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