Russia, Stock Draw Cause Third Straight Day Of Gains For Oil

But the market is far from bullish, say analysts: File Image/Pixabay

A modest decline in U.S. gasoline stocks reportedly augmented concerns about supply disruptions in Russia and led on Thursday to a third-straight day of gains for crude prices.

However, an overall bearish sentiment regarding demand prospects moving forward remained intact.

As of 1800 GMT, Brent was up 75 cents at $76.79 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate rose $1 to $73.25.

Data of U.S. stockpiles provided by the Energy Information Administration was a mixed bag: while gasoline inventories fell last week due to seasonal refinery maintenance causing reduced processing, crude stockpiles rose slightly more than expected, meaning total inventories remained flat.

Crude stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve rose by 4.6 million barrels to 432.5 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 14; gasoline inventories fell by 151,000 barrels to 247.9 million barrels.

Meanwhile, although Russia and the U.S. had their first meeting since the beginning of the Ukraine war with the goal of ending the conflict, geopolitical tensions remained high as the former Soviet Union attacked Ukrainian gas infrastructure and damaged gas production facilities – retaliation for a Ukraine drone damaging a a major route for crude exports from Kazakhstan.

Royal Bank of Canada analysts including Brian Leisen wrote in a note regarding oil trading, "Prices will likely remain rangebound, continuing to move with headlines," and they added that "as more time passes without the market realizing a substantial catalyst," traders will position themselves closer to average prices.

In other oil news on Thursday, despite the Ukraine drone attack, sources told media that Kazakhstan's oil output rose to a record high of 2.12 million barrels per day (bpd) on February 19 for oil and gas condensate production; however, it wasn't clear how output was ramped up, considering the attack caused a 30-40 percent reduction in capacity for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium.

Also on Thursday, Saudi Arabia's state-owned Aramco signed agreements to buy a 25 percent equity stake in one of the largest petroleum companies in the Philippines, Unioil Petroleum Philippines.

Aramco stated that the deal is "further progress in Aramco's strategic downstream expansion and growth of its global retail network, which aims to secure additional outlets for its refined products."