Oil Prices Hits March Highs on Vaccine Hopes, Defying Gasoline Stock Spike

By Barani KrishnanInvesting.com -- Crude stockpiles in the United States fell by almost 800,000 barrels last week, confounding analysts expectations for a build and sending benchmark U.S. oil to $45 highs last seen in March before the market upheavals caused by the coronavirus pandemic.Inventories of crude for the week ended Nov. 20 slid by 754,000 barrels, compared to the build of 127,000 barrels projected by analysts, weekly data issued by the Energy Information Administration showed. The decline almost negated the stockpile rise of 768,000 barrels in the prior week.While crude inventories fell, gasoline stockpiles rose by 2.18 million barrels, more than thrice the expected build of 614,000 barrels. It was a second straight week that the market had got its reading on gasoline wrong, after the previous week’s rise of 2.6 million against a projected decline of 2.3 million. Gasoline is the foremost indicator of fuel demand in the United States. Flagging numbers for this oil component over the past two weeks are proof of the seasonal demand decline at this time of the year, right after the end of the peak U.S. summer driving period. It’s also testimony of the continued weight of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, especially with the burst of new infections, hospitalizations and deaths since the start of November.The bearish streak in gasoline demand, however, did not stop West Texas Intermediate crude, the benchmark for U.S. oil, from reaching 8-month highs.