Crude oil futures traded lower on Thursday morning following an increase in gasoline inventory levels in the US for the week ending November 22.
At 9.56 am on Thursday, February Brent oil futures were at $72.16, down by 0.19 per cent, and January crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $68.56, down by 0.23 per cent.
December crude oil futures were trading at ₹5,808 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹5,781, up by 0.47 per cent, and January futures were trading at ₹5,795 against the previous close of ₹5,769, up by 0.45 per cent.
The weekly petroleum status report by the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) said that total motor gasoline inventories increased by 3.3 million barrels for the week ending November 22. Both finished gasoline and blending components inventories increased last week. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 0.4 million barrels last week.
As the US heads into the Thanksgiving holiday, an increase in the gasoline inventory levels has raised worries about fuel demand in the US market. US is a major consumer of crude oil in the world market.
Meanwhile, US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 1.8 million barrels from the previous week. At 428.4 million barrels, US crude oil inventories were about 5 per cent below the five-year average for this time of year.
Total products supplied in the US over the last four-week period averaged 20.4 million barrels a day, up by 1 per cent from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.8 million barrels a day, up slightly from the same period last year.
US crude oil imports averaged 6.1 million barrels a day last week, a decrease of 1.6 million barrels a day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.6 million barrels a day, 5.5 per cent more than the same four-week period last year.
Meanwhile, market is keenly waiting for the outcome of the OPEC+ (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and allies) meeting on December 1. A Reuters report said on Wednesday that OPEC+ is likely to further delay the proposed increase in crude oil production output.
It is to be noted here that OPEC+ had planned to gradually roll back oil production cuts with small increases over many months in 2024 and 2025. Factors such as a slowdown in Chinese and global demand, and rising output outside OPEC block have put a dampener on that plan.
December natural gas futures were trading at ₹270.20 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹272, down by 0.66 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), December cottonseed oilcake contracts were trading at ₹2,745 in the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹2,735, up by 0.37 per cent.
December turmeric (farmer polished) futures were trading at ₹13,406 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹13,510, down by 0.77 per cent.