Nymex Overview: WTI Extends Rebound From Five-Month Lows, Ignores Oil Build — OPIS

Crude oil contracts rose about $1 in Wednesday midday trade, on track for a fourth straight higher session as petroleum investors shrugged off a solid build in U.S. oil stockpiles last week.

At 11:55 a.m. ET, November West Texas Intermediate was around $1.15 higher to $62.90/bbl, and December WTI was up by 95cts to $62.25/bbl.

London-based December ICE Brent was about 85cts higher to $66.3/bbl and January Brent was up by 75cts to $65.7/bbl.

November NYMEX RBOB was up by 1.65ct to $1.9105/bbl and December RBOB was 1.9ct higher to $1.8625/gal. November ULSD was 2.3cts higher to $2.288/gal and December ULSD was up by 2.2cts to $2.273/gal.

Oil benchmarks are set for a fourth consecutive higher session, lifted by bargain hunting after the front-month November WTI contract settled at a five-month low of $60.48/bbl on Thursday. In addition, a smaller-than-expected production increase by OPEC and its allied nations for November also improved overall buying sentiment.

The latest Energy Information Administration data showed U.S. crude inventories jumped 3.7 million bbl for the week ended Friday. However, the agency's data also showed gasoline inventories were off by 1.6 million bbl and distillate stocks fell by 2 million bbl.

Despite oversupply concerns, geopolitical tensions amid ongoing Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure including its oil refineries and terminals may limit further declines in petroleum futures.

In the spot market, Los Angeles CARBOB prices were down 3-4cts around midday, while most other cash products mirrored moves in NYMEX product contracts.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

• Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com