Surprise Drop in U.S. Crude Inventories Fails to Rally Oil Market
U.S. commercial crude oil stockpiles fell last week for the first time since January, according to data released Wednesday morning by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The 700,000-barrel drop surprised analysts, who had been expecting a 4.1 million-barrel increase, according to a Reuters poll.
However, the news didn't have much of an impact on benchmark WTI Crude prices, which spiked briefly on the news to above $26 a barrel, but retreated throughout the rest of the morning as concerns about potential spikes in coronavirus infections worried investors.
Stocks of independent U.S. oil exploration and production companies (E&Ps) like ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG), and Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) didn't see a benefit, either: All opened lower and sank further throughout the morning.
Source Fool.com
