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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released data on Wednesday showing that U.S. crude oil inventories fell again, with U.S. imports of Canadian oil reaching a new high, and U.S. oil prices rebounded on Wednesday after three consecutive days of decline, with WTI's increase once exceeding 2.5%.

According to the EIA report, for the week ending July 12, U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 4.87 million barrels, which was much less than the 2.75 million barrels reduction expected by Bloomberg subscribers and the 7.36 million barrels reduction expected by analysts. This reduction was also greater than the decrease indicated by the American Petroleum Institute (API); in comparison, the previous week saw a decrease of 3.443 million barrels. The current total inventory has dropped to 440.2 million barrels, about 5% lower than the average level of the same period in the past five years, according to the EIA.

Crude oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased by 650,000 barrels, reaching 373.7 million barrels. Crude oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery center of the New York Mercantile Exchange, decreased by 875,000 barrels, down to 32.7 million barrels. At the same time, U.S. imports of Canadian oil increased by 807,000 barrels per day, to 4.418 million barrels per day, setting a new historical record.

Media reports indicated that Hurricane Barry made landfall in Texas earlier last week, causing ports to temporarily close, but its impact seemed limited. The EIA estimated that crude oil production per day was 13.3 million barrels, unchanged from the previous week, while crude oil imports increased by 277,000 barrels per day, reaching 7 million barrels per day. Crude oil exports averaged slightly below 4 million barrels per day, a decrease of 35,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

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Furthermore, the utilization rate of refineries decreased, with the capacity utilization rate falling by 1.7 percentage points to 93.7%. The capacity utilization rate along the Gulf Coast decreased from 97% to 92.7%, but other regions saw an increase.

However, the largest increase in gasoline inventories since January has raised questions about fuel demand during the summer driving season. Data showed that for the week ending July 12, EIA gasoline inventories increased by 3.328 million barrels, far higher than the expected decrease of 1.23 million barrels, with the previous value being a decrease of 2.006 million barrels. Gasoline inventories reached 233 million barrels, slightly above the five-year average level. Gasoline demand decreased by 615,000 barrels per day, down to 8.8 million barrels per day, which was a decline following the U.S. Independence Day holiday week on July 4th.

Distillate fuel inventories increased for the second consecutive week, adding 3.5 million barrels to reach 128.1 million barrels, about 7% lower than the five-year average level. Distillate fuel inventories were expected to decrease by 400,000 barrels.

Affected by the significant decrease in crude oil inventories, the futures price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery rebounded on Wednesday, with the intraday increase once exceeding 2.5%, and the midday quote was $82.72 per barrel.

Due to the rebound of U.S. oil prices above $82 per barrel, WTI is consolidating near the 100-day moving average, which has been acting as a support level for the past month. A commodity strategist at TD Securities wrote in a report to clients that trend-following algorithms have been in a selling position since the beginning of this week, and the window for large-scale liquidation remains open.

Despite weak oil demand and OPEC+ production cuts, although oil prices fell earlier this month, they have still risen for the year. Some traders remain optimistic about the outlook for the rest of the year and traded a batch of bullish oil options on Tuesday. This includes contracts that profit from the rise of WTI and Brent crude oil prices to $100 and above. There are also analysts who say that tensions in the Middle East will continue to support oil prices.However, analysts at JPMorgan Chase stated in a report that the supply and demand equilibrium price for U.S. crude oil is around $70 per barrel. The analysts said that an oil price of $60 is too low to stimulate production, which could lead to a significant increase in oil prices to $100 within the next year. If Trump were to return to the White House, he might initiate a new round of exploration and extraction in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, aiming to achieve a production increase of 3 million barrels per day.