API inventory fell sharply, oil prices rose slightly to close at the highest level in nearly six weeks

On Tuesday (September 14) U.S. oil futures rose $0.01, an increase of 0.01%, and settled at $70.46/barrel; cloth oil rose $0.09, an increase of 0.12%, to close at $73.60/barrel, hitting 74.28 in the intraday session. The high of the dollar/barrel. Although tropical storm "Nicholas" brought torrential rains and blackouts to Texas, it caused less damage to the US energy infrastructure than Hurricane Ida earlier this month, and market concerns about possible threats to crude oil supplies in the Gulf of Mexico faded. , Oil prices gave up almost all of their gains, but still closed at their highest level since early August.

The US Bureau of Security and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) stated that the Gulf of Mexico region closed 39.57% of crude oil production (or 720,200 barrels per day) and 48.2% of natural gas production (or 1,074.81 million cubic feet per day). "Nicholas" landed in Texas on Monday and will arrive in Louisiana on Wednesday, bringing more flooding and heavy rain to oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York, said, “The situation in the Gulf of Mexico will not resolve itself soon. Affected by strong winds, Royal Dutch Shell shut down an offshore oil platform. Due to severe weather conditions, ship traffic in some energy hubs has been suspended. ."

"Nicholas" is the second major storm to threaten the Gulf of Mexico in the United States in recent weeks, bringing torrential rains to the southern hinterland of the United States and causing power outages. Despite this, most of the refineries in Texas are still operating normally, and Texas Public Utilities is also restoring power supply for customers affected by the power outage. Although Nicholas did not affect offshore crude oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the power outage caused by the storm briefly cut off the largest gasoline pipeline in the United States, which transports fuel from Houston to the northeastern United States.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday that the OPEC+ alliance’s increase in production was offset by the production losses caused by Hurricane Ida, and the world will have to wait until October to receive more oil supplies. After global oil demand has fallen for three consecutive months, the new crown vaccination should reignite oil demand that has been suppressed by epidemic restrictions, especially in Asia. The IEA expects October demand to rebound by 1.6 million barrels per day, and the growth momentum will continue until the end of the year.

API data show that as of the week of September 10, crude oil inventories fell by 5.437 million barrels, Cushing crude oil inventories fell by 1.345 million barrels, gasoline inventories fell by 2.761 million barrels, and refined oil inventories fell by 2.888 million barrels.

The latest data released by the US Department of Labor shows that inflation has cooled, and concerns about the impact of the hurricane on the energy industry have subsided, and oil prices have fallen below the level during the intraday trading. At the same time, the details of China's plan to sell strategic reserves of crude oil depressed crude oil prices. The State Administration of Grain and Material Reserves of China stated that it will auction approximately 7.4 million barrels of crude oil on September 24.

(4 hours chart of US Oil)