Oil benchmarks have been under pressure for the last few weeks due to the rise in infections caused by the Delta variant of the coronavirus worldwide. Minutes of the U.S. Federal reserve's July 27-28 policy meeting showed officials noted the spread of the Delta variant could temporarily delay the full reopening of the economy, and restrain the jobs market. U.S. crude inventories fell 3.2 million barrels last week to 435.5 million barrels, their lowest since January 2020, according to U.S. Energy Department figures. Gasoline stocks, however, rose modestly, and gasoline product supplied to the market - a measure of demand - was 9.5 million barrels per day, just 1% below 2019 levels. Although weekly production figures are volatile, analysts noted that U.S. crude output continued its steady rise, hitting 11.4 million bpd last week.

Source: The Star August 18, 2021 19:52 UTC