The United States Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO), which tracks West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, and the United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSEArca: BNO), which tracks Brent crude oil futures, rallied Wednesday amid some encouraging inventories data, but some market observers expect oil prices to be rangebound over the near term.
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Oil prices strengthened after the American Petroleum Institute revealed late Tuesday that U.S. crude oil stockpiles declined by 5.2 million barrels for the week ended August 17, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Energy Information Administration will release its official numbers Wednesday and could show a 2 million barrel drawdown in crude stocks, according to oil analysts.
“Additional bearish concerns could soon come from the supply side, a notable turnaround as the supply picture has been a bullish factor for much of this year. Market analysts grew concerned about a supply crunch a few months ago, but the outlook is now shaping up to be one of, if not abundance, then maybe ‘adequate’ supply,” reports OilPrice.com.
Oil Supply Factors to Consider
Other factors contributing to oil’s surge this year was the U.S. exploring the possibility of tapping into their emergency reserves to stymie disruptions in oil supply, notably the slashing of Iranian oil imports.