NYMEX crude futures climb for 7th day amid US crude stock draw

Crude oil futures rose during mid-morning trade in Asia Dec. 30, with the NYMEX crude contract on track for a seventh straight day of gains, as the ongoing Santa Claus rally was helped by data that showed a draw in US crude oil stocks last week.

At 09:54 am Singapore time (0154 GMT), the ICE February Brent futures contract was up 23 cents/b (0.29%) from the previous close at $79.46/b, while the NYMEX February light sweet crude contract rose 26 cents/b (0.34%) to $76.82/b.

US commercial crude inventories declined by 3.6 million barrels to 420 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 24, Energy Information Administration data showed Dec. 29, pushing stocks 7% behind the five-year average for this time of the year -- the tightest levels have been since mid September.

Nationwide gasoline stocks fell by 1.5 million barrels to 222.7 million barrels, while distillate stocks fell by 1.7 million barrels to 122.4 million barrels over the same period.

The data was decidedly bullish for crude prices, and showed that end-user gasoline demand remained strong.

Both crude oil benchmarks have now added close to 12% in value over the last seven sessions, and were pinned at highs not seen in nearly five weeks.

The Relative Strength Index on the four-hourly charts for both contracts showed prices currently hovering near overbought territory, though the daily charts indicated they still had room to run. Nonetheless, the rapid spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus presents significant downside risks to demand outlooks.

The US has reported record-high COVID-19 cases this week, with the seven-week moving average touching 277,241 cases Dec. 28, surpassing the previous high of 250,435 cases Jan. 11, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.

Hospitalizations and deaths, however, remain far below their prior peaks, CDC data and media reports showed. "All indications point to a lesser severity of Omicron versus Delta. The data are encouraging, but still in many respects preliminary," the White house's Chief Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci said at a briefing Dec. 29.