Oil trims gains as US inventories rise

Oil drilling rigs

Oil futures pared gains today, Dec. 20, as crude inventories at the Cushing Delivery Center—the largest storage center in the United States—rose an estimated 1.7 million barrels last week, in light of investors' fears of global trade disruption.

Brent crude futures for February delivery rose 0.6%, or 47 cents, to close at $79.70 a barrel, after touching $80.60 intra-session.

WTI crude for February delivery (the most active contract) increased by 0.4%, or 28 cents, to $74.22 a barrel, after touching $75.37 during the session.

Data from the US Energy Information Administration revealed that oil inventories rose by about 2.9 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 15, while expectations indicated a decline of 2.3 million barrels.

According to the latest oil market forecasts from Standard & Poor's Global, total liquids production in the US will reach 21.4 million barrels per day during the current quarter, of which 13.3 million barrels per day will be from crude and condensates, and the remainder will be from natural gas and biofuels, both of which are global record levels.