Azeri Light crude rises again

Azeri LT CIF crude oil, exported from Azerbaijan to the world markets, increased $ 1.15 (+2.07%), settling at $ 56.82 per barrel, Report informs.

The lowest price for Azeri Light was recorded on April 21, 2020 ($ 15.81), and the all-time high of $149.66 was fixed in July, 2008.

On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a draw in crude oil inventories of 5.821 million barrels for the week ending January 8.

Analysts had predicted an inventory draw of 2.266 million barrels for the week.

The API reported a draw in oil inventories of 1.663-million barrels in the previous week, after analysts had predicted a draw of 1.271 million barrels.

Both Brent and WTI were up on Tuesday afternoon before the data release, still buoyed by Saudi Arabia's generous offer last week to single-handedly—and voluntarily—cut another 1 million barrels per day off its oil production in February and March.

And even though oil prices are now at an 11-month high, coronavirus-inspired lockdowns continue to drag on any hopes of an oil demand rebound, dampening oil price gains.

An hour before Tuesday's data release, WTI had risen by $0.90 on the day (+1.72%) to $53.14, up more than $3 per barrel on the week. The Brent crude benchmark had risen on the day $0.89 at that time (+1.60%) to $56.55—up almost $3 per barrel on the week.