Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Oil Prices Rebound on Smaller-than-feared Crude Build--UPDATED

Update below.
Original post:

Yesterday I commented, in "Oil: Crude Storage at Capacity--Goldman Sachs":
Front futures up 32 cents on hopes, dreams.$30.66, last. 
More seriously, because the drop went so far so fast there are air pockets all the way up to $34-$34.50 that oil could levitate to without a lot of resistance....
The futures got to $31.76 and I'm checking the requirements for joining Mensa, thinking Polynesia sounds nice for a couple days and the good folks at the American Petroleum Institute release their weekly estimate.
Of course ZeroHedge sounded strangely aroused in "Crude Plunges After API Reports Biggest Inventory Build Since 1996".

But today is a new day and the EIA report has come out and I get to stand by my earlier statement on the support/resistance upside.
For now though I'll maybe hold off on the traveling and the joining clubs stuff.

From Reuters via CNBC:
Brent futures turned positive and U.S. crude pared losses on Wednesday after the government reported a large build in crude stockpiles, but less than an earlier industry report indicated. 
The Energy Information Administration reported crude inventories rose by 8.4 million barrels in the week through Jan. 22, bringing the total in storage to 494.9 million barrels, the highest on record. 
U.S. crude stocks rose by 11.4 million barrels last week to 496.6 million, the American Petroleum Institute said, topping analyst expectations for an increase of 3.3 million barrels.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 771,000 barrels, EIA said.
Meanwhile, gasoline stocks rose by 3.5 million barrels, while distillate fuel inventories were down by 4.1 million barrels....MORE
Futures  $31.77 up 32 cents.
For what it's worth, a move to that $34.00-$34.50 range would cause so much pain to remaining shorts that there might be some overshoot as the margin clerks take control of the trading, which would set up a dandy spot to short and contemplate the fact that the southern islands boast as many shades of blue as Ireland has green:

Update:
Oil: And Now Transneft Says Russia and OPEC Could Play Nice Together