Oil prices operate above US $ 82 after falling reserves

Commercial crude oil reserves fell much more than expected last week in the United States, according to figures released Wednesday by the Energy Information Agency (EIA).

In the week ending January 7, crude oil reserves they fell 4.6 million barrels (mb), to 413.3 mb. Analysts had expected a 1.6 mb drop.

This is the seventh consecutive fall in these reserves, which are 8% below their average level of the last five years in the same period.

The figures took the prices of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main US benchmark, to a two-month high of US $ 82.66 per barrel during Wednesday’s session. By 16:00 GMT, the contract for February delivery was up 1.47% at $ 82.42.

While a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in March was up 0.99% in London at US $ 84.55.

The outlook is uneven, since in parallel to the sharp decline in crude oil reserves, gasoline stocks increased by 7.9 mb, triple that expected by analysts who expected an increase of 2.7 mb.

The demand for gasoline, meanwhile, fell slightly in the week considered, although the demand for petroleum products as a whole increased strongly, by 1.1 mbd a day (mbd) to 20.8 mbd, compared to 19.6 mbd the previous week.