WTI/RBOB Higher After Surprisingly Large Crude Draw

WTI/RBOB tumbled today after fears about cracks in one of the world’s most important oil pipelines faded. Prices were below last week’s pre-API levels as hope was high that last week’s big surprise product build was a fluke but once again we saw notable product builds, but prices popped higher as a 7.382mm crude draw was much bigger than expected.

API

Crude -7.382mm (-2.89mm exp) – biggest draw in 4 months

Cushing -2.704mm (-2.5mm exp)

Gasoline +2.334mm

Distillates +1.5384mm

Hope was high that last week’s unexpectedly large product build was a one-off

WTI/RBOB prices were below the pre-API levels from last week heading into the print.

The Forties outage is “a measurable disruption that the market can apparently cope with,” Thomas Finlon, director of Energy Analytics Group LLC in Wellington, Florida, said by telephone. After the Brent-WTI spread widened to more than $7 a barrel, “the ability to cover shortfalls with U.S. crude is pretty easy.”

But after the API data hit, prices moved higher…