US commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by -6.9m barrels in the week ending September 6, larger that expectation of -2.7m barrels. At 416.1m barrels, crude oil inventories are about 2% below the five year average for this time of year.
Separately, OPEC lowered 2020 oil demand forecasts due to economic slowdown. OPEC expected oil demand worldwide would expand by 1.08 million barrels per day, 60,000 bpd less than previously estimated. It also noted that next year’s increase in oil demand would be outpaced by “strong” growth in supply. At the same time, it lower global growth forecasts in 2020 to 3.1%, down from 3.2%.
WTI crude oil dips mildly in early US session in responses to the news. Overall, it’s staying in range of 50.43/60.93. Recent corrective price actions suggest that range trading is set to continue.
