- WTi price recovers to near $59.60 in Friday’s Asian session.
- Crude oil stockpiles in the US climbed by 5.202 million barrels last week, noted EIA.
- Russia has halted fuel exports at the Black Sea refinery.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $59.60 during the Asian trading hours on Friday. The WTI recovers some lost ground on the weaker US Dollar (USD). However, the potential upside might be limited amid increasing excess supply concerns.
Traders’ concerns increase about surplus oil flooding the market, weighing on the WTI price. Data released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed that crude oil stockpiles in the US for the week ending October 31 climbed by 5.202 million barrels compared to a fall of 6.858 million barrels in the previous week.
Earlier this week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) revealed that the US crude oil inventories increased by 6.5 million barrels for the week ending October 31 following a 4 million barrel draw in the previous week.
Nonetheless, the WTI price receives some support from recent reports that the US military may be on the verge of launching military strikes on Venezuela, which is the world’s 12th largest oil producer. Additionally, reduced crude exports from Russia might also lift the black gold. Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse has suspended fuel exports, while its oil refinery halted crude processing after Sunday’s Ukrainian drone attacks on its infrastructure, according to two industry sources and LSEG ship tracking data.
