The “Black Gold” prices continued the upward trend for the third trading session in a row on Wednesday, December 16, and are at nine-month highs. The oil prices were backed by figures from the EIA agency, which last week showed a decline in crude oil reserves in the U.S. Moreover the rise in oil prices is underpinned by the general bullish mood on the global markets, in expectation of the introduction in the United States of a new stimulus plan, which favored the appetite for risk assets.
3 Tiny Stocks Primed to Explode
The world's greatest investor — Warren Buffett — has a simple formula for making big money in the markets. He buys up valuable assets when they are very cheap. For stock market investors that means buying up cheap small cap stocks like these with huge upside potential.
We've set up an alert service to help smart investors take full advantage of the small cap stocks primed for big returns.
Click here for full details and to join for free
Sponsored
Brent crude oil’s February futures add 0.60 percent to the price and were at $51.08 on the day, with WTI crude oil’s January futures jumped by 0.4 percent to $47.82.
Data released on Wednesday by the U.S. agency EIA, which showed a decline in oil reserves in the United States, are the main drivers of the rise in oil prices on the day. According to the results of the week ended on 11 December, the country’s crude oil reserves decreased by 3.135 million barrels, which was stronger than the -1.937 million consensus estimate. The indicator increased by 15.189 million barrels a week earlier.
Stocks of distillates rose less than expected: a rise of 0.167 million barrels compared to +0.886 million barrels estimated. The indicator increased by 5.222 million barrels in the preceding week.
For the fifth week in a row, gasoline inventories continued to rise, adding 1.02 million barrels, compared to an increase of 4.222 million barrels a week earlier. A rise of 1.614 million barrels had been expected by analysts.
In general, despite the continued accumulation of gasoline stocks, the statistics have come out in a reasonably positive way, which is not surprising considering the strengthening of restrictive measures in a number of U.S. states.
The prospects of the imminent implementation of a new stimulus plan for the US economy, which favors strong demand for risk assets, provide additional support for oil prices. Senate Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell said Congress would not end the year without this bill being approved.
