EIA gasoline inventories soared by 10 million barrels, and Brent crude oil prices soared back to the 80 mark

On Wednesday (January 6), U.
S.
oil rose 0.
26% to close at $77.
19 / barrel
.
Earlier EIA data showed that gasoline inventories surged by 10.
128 million barrels, refined oil inventories increased by 4.
418 million barrels, and crude oil inventories fell by 2.
144 million barrels
in the week ended Dec.
31.
Analysts pointed out that weak demand in the last week of 2021, influenced by Omicron, put pressure
on oil prices.
Meanwhile, the minutes of the latest Fed meeting showed that policymakers may have to raise interest rates faster than the market expected, and oil prices fell
sharply after the minutes were released.

U.
S.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventories fell by 1.
3 million barrels last week to 593 million barrels, the lowest level
since November 2002, according to the U.
S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA).
U.
S.
Gulf Coast crude inventories fell last week to their lowest level
since January 2020.
U.
S.
Gulf Coast crude imports fell to a record low
last week.

Financial blog Zero Hedge said that if the symptoms of cases infected with the Omicron strain remain less severe, concerns about the impact of the virus on demand may be excessive, which bodes well for long-term demand for crude oil
.
Airline staffing shortages and weather disruptions have forced thousands of flights to cancel over the past two weeks, which appears to have greatly affected product inventories and gasoline demand has fallen
sharply.
WTI crude fell back below
$78 after the EIA crude oil report.

Financial website Forexlive said that gasoline inventories have increased dramatically, even more than yesterday's API data
.
Given the weak demand for gasoline caused by the Omicron strain, there is skepticism about current crude oil prices
.

On Monday (Jan.
3), the number of new cases in the United States reached nearly 1 million, the highest number of new infections in a single day in the world, almost double the peak a week ago
.
Overall refined product supply, an indicator of demand, fell sharply, but average demand levels over the past four weeks were stronger
than in the same period two years ago.
Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capital Economics, wrote: "The sharp decline in implicit demand for refined products – especially gasoline – suggests that the public is wary of
travel following the surge in Omicron cases.
These concerns are likely to persist for a few more weeks
.
”

OPEC+ on Tuesday stuck to its plan to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day next month and cut its oversupply forecast
for the first quarter.
However, recent history shows that the alliance's ability to increase production is severely limited; According to the survey, production increased by only 90,000 barrels
per day in December.
Matt Sallee, portfolio manager at Tortoise, said: "Outside Saudi Arabia, OPEC faces challenges
in increasing production.
Over time, OPEC has not been able to achieve an increase of 400,000 barrels per day, which could scare the market.
"

As some members struggle to meet their output targets, OPEC+ may have actually increased supply lower than planned
in February.
Energy Aspects Ltd.
co-founder Amrita Sen expects the alliance to increase output by 250,000 barrels
per day next month.

Oil prices pared gains after the minutes of the latest meeting of the US Federal Reserve showed that policymakers may have to raise interest rates faster than the market expected
.
Other risky assets such as stocks have also been hit
.

Every January, two of the world's largest commodity indices — the S&P GSCI Index and the Bloomberg commodities Index — reweight each commodity, triggering massive flows
in commodity markets.
Societe Generale (601166) expects West Texas Intermediate crude futures to face a sell-off worth nearly 60 million barrels
.
In November, the bank estimated that the sell-off would be about $4.
6 billion
.
Pressure on flows is expected to hit benchmark U.
S.
crude futures
.