WTI crude oil prices recover from intra-day lows following a decrease in gasoline inventories.

The report indicated a two-week consecutive decrease in gasoline inventories.  

Highlights

• There was a 3.6 million barrel rise in crude inventories compared to the previous week.
• The domestic oil production held steady at 13.2 million barrels per day.
• The Strategic Petroleum Reserve remained unchanged at 351.3 million barrels.  

The EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report, released on November 15, revealed a 3.6 million barrel increase in crude inventories from the previous week, surpassing the analyst consensus of +1.8 million barrels. Currently, crude oil inventories are approximately 2% lower than the five-year average for this time of year.

Simultaneously, total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 1.5 million barrels, and distillate fuel inventories also saw a decline of 1.4 million barrels. Notably, the previous week's unreleased report, due to a scheduled systems upgrade, indicated a considerable 6.3 million barrel decrease in gasoline inventories.

Domestic oil production held steady at 13.2 million barrels per day, while the Strategic Petroleum Reserve remained constant at 351.3 million barrels.

Following the release of the EIA report, WTI oil rebounded from session lows as traders directed their attention to the decrease in gasoline inventories. However, it's important to highlight that the previous report showed a substantial 13.86 million barrel increase in crude inventories, which is considered bearish for the oil market.

On the other hand, Brent oil attempted to surpass the $82.00 level following the EIA data release. At this juncture, the decline in gasoline inventories helped counterbalance the adverse impact of rising crude oil inventories.