Crude oil, energy stocks sink deep in the red as inventories post surprise rise
SlavkoSereda

Crude oil futures reversed modest gains to move sharply lower Wednesday after data from the Energy Information Administration showed unexpected increases in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories.
OPEC+ said it would raise its oil production target by a meager 100K bbl/day, one of the smallest oil production increases in its history.
Also, diplomats from the U.S., Europe and Iran are set to return to Vienna after months of deadlock for another attempt to save the Iran nuclear deal.
WTI September crude oil (CL1:COM) -3.7% to $90.91/bbl, and October Brent crude (CO1:COM) -3.4% to $97.09/bbl.
Losses in energy stocks (XLE) are accelerating, including (DVN) -5.3%, (APA) -5%, (MRO) -4.5%, (OXY) -4.5%, (CTRA) -4.3%, (FANG) -4%, (HES) -3.7%, (COP) -3.7%.
ETFs: (USO), (UGA), (UCO), (SCO), (BNO), (DBO), (USL)
Analysts had expected a draw on crude oil stockpiles, but inventories jumped by 4.5M barrels to 426.6M barrels, and are now ~7% below the five-year average, crude oil stored at the Cushing, Oklahoma, hub increased by 926K barrels from the previous week to 24.5M barrels, and gasoline stockpiles added 163K barrels to 225.3M barrels.
The four-week average of U.S. gasoline consumption is now more than 1M bbl/day below pre-COVID seasonal norms, as the recent glimmer of demand recovery fades even while pump prices have fallen for 50 straight days.
OPEC+ said concerns over tight spare capacity and uncertainty over the longer-term supply outlook were top factors in explaining its small production increase.
The alliance in June had agreed to boost production by 648K bbl/day in July and in August, after imposing 432K bbl/day monthly increases as part of a plan agreed last year to raise output to pre-COVID levels.
Hurt by soaring inflation and higher interest rates that raised fears of a recession, WTI and Brent crude both ended July with a second straight monthly loss.