Weekly Crude Oil Review: WTI Oil Sees Some Selling On Rising US Output

WTI Crude oil futures extended losses from near three month highs after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that the US commercial crude inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels for the week ending March 23, maintaining a total US commercial crude inventory of 429.9 million barrels. The commercial crude inventory remains in the lower half of the average range for this time of year, stated EIA. However, US crude oil exports rose by 5,000 barrels a day last week, and US production rose by 26,000 barrels a day to 10.43 million barrels, maintaining their recent uptrend. Exports averaged 1.58 million barrels a day last week and have a cumulative daily average for the year of 1.49 million barrels a day, a 92% increase over the year-ago export total. This continued increase in US crude output and exports can weigh on prices in near term.