US oil prices near two-year high on pipeline shutdown, falling inventories

WTI has been buoyed by the shutdown of the 590,000 bpd Keystone pipeline, one of the largest crude pipelines from Canada to the United States

US oil prices remained near two-year highs on Thursday as the shutdown of the Keystone pipeline and a drawdown in fuel inventories pointed to a tightening market, despite rising output. 

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $57.95 a barrel at 0143 GMT, down 7 cents from their last settlement, but still close to 2015-highs of $58.15 a barrel reached the previous day.

Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $63.19 per barrel, 13 cents below their last close.

WTI has been buoyed by the shutdown of the 590,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Keystone pipeline, one of the largest crude pipelines from Canada to the United States, as well as by another drawdown in commercial fuel inventories that came despite record US oil production. 

US crude inventories C-STK-T-EIA fell 1.9 million barrels in the week to November 17, to 457.14 million barrels. Stocks have dropped by 15 per cent from their records in March, to below 2016 levels.

"Another large drawdown in inventories buoyed investor sentiment," ANZ bank said.

The inventory drop came as the Keystone pipeline connecting Canada's Alberta oilfields to the United States was shut last week after an oil spill in South Dakota. Operator TransCanada Corp is cutting deliveries through at least the end of the month. 

The tightening US oil market means the WTI forward price curve has moved from contango, when prices for future delivery are more expensive than those for immediate dispatch, into backwardation, where spot prices are higher than those for later delivery.

Backwardation indicates a tightening market as it incentivises traders to sell oil immediately instead of putting it into storage.

Markets are also tightening globally due to an effort led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a group of non-OPEC producers, including Russia, to withhold output.

The deal to curb production is due to expire in March 2018, but OPEC will meet on November 30 to discuss the outlook for the policy, and it is expected that the group will extend the cuts.

Threatening to undermine OPEC's efforts, however, is US production C-OUT-T-EIA, which has risen by 15 per cent since mid-2016 to a record 9.66 million bpd.

This has turned the United States from the world's biggest importer of crude oil into a significant exporter, with production now second only to Russia and Saudi Arabia.