Original title: international oil prices continue to strengthen, US API stocks decline, people begin to hoard gasoline

International oil prices rose slightly on Wednesday after industry data showed a decline in U.S. crude oil inventories, cementing OPEC's outlook for strong demand, while the market waited for the latest news of the Colonial pipeline shutdown.

Crude oil futures rose 0.84 per cent to $65.83 per barrel at 16 ICE Beijing time; NYMEX crude oil futures rose 0.84 per cent to $65.83 per barrel.

Brent crude oil

Futures rose 0.77% to $69.08 a barrel.

According to data released overnight by the American Petroleum Association ((API)), US crude oil stocks fell by 2.533 million barrels, gasoline stocks increased by 5.64 million barrels and distillate stocks fell by about 872000 barrels in the week ended May 7.

It should be noted that the inventory reduction occurred before the Colonial pipeline was hacked last Friday and forced to shut down. The pipeline carries 2.5 million barrels of fuel per day. Official inventory data from the US Energy Information Administration will be released at 22:30 Beijing time.

The operator of the Colonial pipeline says it hopes to restart most of its network systems by the end of the week. But the market remains nervous about fuel supplies. "the Colonial pipeline network attack is continuing and is now leading to a shortage of energy supplies in the eastern United States," Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA, wrote in a report on Wednesday.

Gas stations from Flori to Virginia were in short supply on Tuesday as drivers rushed to refuel and pushed up prices. The average price of unleaded gasoline in the United States is $2.99 a gallon, the highest level since November 2014, according to the American Automobile Association.

Us Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters at the White House: "We ask people not to hoard [fuel]. The situation will return to normal soon." He said there was no shortage in areas that traditionally relied on Colonial for fuel, such as North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and South Virginia, but gasoline supplies were "tight".

"while prolonged outages will support refined oil prices, refineries along the Gulf Coast may be dragged down if refineries along the Gulf Coast are forced to reduce operating rates due to increased inventories of refined oil products," ING analysts wrote in a research note on Wednesday.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries ((OPEC)) on Tuesday maintained its forecast for a strong recovery in global oil demand in 2021 as growth in China and the US offset the impact of India's COVID-19 crisis, a prospect that supported the group's plan to gradually ease production cuts. This has also supported oil prices.

OPEC said it expected demand to increase by 5.95 million b / d this year, in line with last month's forecast. However, due to the surge in the number of COVID-19 infections in India, the agency cut its demand outlook by 300000 b / d in the second quarter.