By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Oil was up Thursday morning in Asia as U.S. crude supplies fell to multimonth lows. However, volatility remained as the recovery from COVID-19 remains uneven and impacts fuel demand.
Brent oil futures were up 0.26% to $69.14 by 11:38 PM ET (3:38 AM GMT) and WTI futures edged up 0.14% to $65.72.
Crude oil supply data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed a draw of 7.990 million barrels for the week to Apr. 30. This beats the 2.346-million-barrel draw in forecasts prepared by Investing.com as well as the 90,000-barrel build reported during the previous week.
However, there was a larger-than-expected 737,000-barrel build in gasoline inventories, according to EIA.
The EIA data affirmed an American Petroleum Institute (API) report of a 7.688-million-barrel draw the day before. Both EIA and API data suggest that crude oil levels are at their lowest level since late February 2021.
Oil rebounded this year as major economies, including the U.S. and China, recovered from COVID-19 and increased demand for fuel. On the demand side, jet fuel usage is forecast to jump 30% as Americans start to travel during the upcoming peak summer season.
However, investors remain concerned about fuel demand levels in India, the third-largest oil importer globally, where the number of daily COVID-19 cases remains high. The total number of COVID-19 cases topped 20.6 million as of May 6, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s state energy firm, Saudi Aramco (SE:2222), cut its June pricing for Asia by between 10 and 30 cents per barrel.
Oil prices are at risk of a correction, considering the threat posed by India’s crisis as well as higher supply from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Henik Fung said in a note. The cartel has increased output by about 2 million barrels a day since May, with the increase set to continue through July.