Fundamental analysis
21 October, 2021
Oil prices fell on Thursday as some investors scooped up profits from the recent rally, though solid demand in the United States and a switch to fuel oil from coal and gas amid surging prices capped losses. Crude prices have risen as supply has tightened, with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries maintaining a slow increase in supply rather than intervening to add more barrels to the market. Oil markets hit multi-year highs earlier in the week also supported by a global coal and gas crunch, which has driven a switch to diesel and fuel oil for power generation. Strong demand in the United States was confirmed by the latest weekly data. U.S. crude stocks fell by 431,000 barrels in the week to Oct. 15 to 426.5 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.9 million-barrel rise, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. U.S. gasoline stocks fell by a more-than-expected 5.4 million barrels to 217.7 million barrels, the lowest since November 2019, the EIA said.
