(Bloomberg) -- Oil steadied after a two-day rally as an industry report pointed to the biggest increase in U.S. crude stockpiles at Cushing since February.
Futures in New York traded near $72 a barrel. The American Petroleum reported inventories at the key storage hub rose by 2.4 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the figures. That would be a fourth weekly gain and the largest increase since the week ended Feb. 19 if confirmed by government data due later on Wednesday.
Crude has surged more than 8% over the past two sessions -- rising along with other financial assets -- on increasing signs the omicron virus variant is unlikely to derail the global economic recovery. There’s few deaths from the new strain so far and little sign of a major impact on oil demand.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels last week, the API said. That would be the largest draw since September if confirmed by the Energy Information Administration. The EIA is expected to report stockpiles fell by 1.5 million barrels, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
Over the past week some traders have bet on the small chance that WTI’s discount to Brent will surge past $10 a barrel next year. The long-shot wager is a signal that some market participants believe the Biden administration could intervene in the market again to bring down prices following a pledge to sell crude inventories from strategic reserves.
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