Surprise Drop in Oil Inventories Send Oil Prices Skyrocketing
Uh-oh.
Traders were not happy when the government reported the latest oil inventory figures today. They don't like surprises, and after last week, the last thing they expected was to see the level of crude inventories drop ...again.
But they did, and the result has been a thrill ride in the trading pits.
Crude supplies fell by 3.9 million barrels to 312.7 million barrels in the week ending Oct. 26, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Analysts had expected a build of 1.25 million barrels in crude stocks.
Refinery production was also sharply lower.
At last check, a barrel of light crude was now trading at about $94/barrel.
And here's even more bad news. If the Fed announces another rate cut -- look for the price of oil to surge even higher. That Fed announcement should come out here shortly.