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By Michael Poulson, A/S Global Risk Management

The weekly oil inventory report from the EIA confirmed Tuesday's data from the American Petroleum Institute with another huge draw in crude oil stocks. Consensus was a 3.4 mio. barrel build, so oil inched upwards immediately after the publishing. Gasoline inventories fell more than expected while distillates increased, see details below.

Release: EIA oil data (Consensus)
Crude: -6.200M barrels (3.350M)
Distillates: 2.238M barrels (0.250M)
Gasoline: -3.204M barrels (-0.567M)
Refinery utilization: -0.9%

In accordance with expectations, the U.S. central bank, Fed, left interest rates unchanged yesterday. Voices from members were mixed as regards the timing of an interest rate hike, some expect a rate hike in December, some are more hesitant. The USD fell slightly on the news, which traditionally supports oil prices. Friday a couple of Fed member speeches will be followed for hints of interest hike timing.

Saudi Arabia and Iran will meet this week ahead of next week's informal meeting between OPEC - non-OPEC on stabilising the oil market. The two countries will allegedly prepare for the discussions next week by meeting face to face. Some readers may recall similar talks between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers in the spring fell apart as Iran refused to freeze output and Saudi Arabia refused to accept a deal that did not include Iran.

Today sees more central bank talks as the European Central Bank's president Draghi and Bank of England's Cunliffe will speak. Later today, U.S. Existing Home Sales will be the main economic data today.

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A/S Global Risk Management is a provider of customised hedging solutions for the management of price risk on fuel expenses. The company has offices in Denmark and Singapore. For further details about its risk management products and services, please call +45 88 38 00 00 or email hedging@global-riskmanagement.com.