OREANDA-NEWS. The cost of the nearest futures for WTI crude oil fell by 16.91%, to $ 14.39 per barrel as of 12:47 Moscow time. This is evidenced by trading data on the exchange. Brent crude oil prices are down 5.52% to $ 20.64.

The cost of WTI oil continues to decline on fears of a further drop in demand and the early filling of available oil storage facilities. Data released last week showed that the level of storage in the US continues to grow rapidly, which is the first sign that the activity of oil refineries has reached a minimum, said Julius Baer. Oil reserves in the United States rose to 518.6 million barrels for the week ending April 17, which is close to the record level of 535 million barrels set in 2017.

The oil storage facility in Cushing, the final point of WTI oil supply, was 70% full by mid-April, and all available free volumes had already been leased, Reuters reported. Due to lower demand from refineries, 50 million barrels of oil are delivered to storage facilities weekly. At the current fill rate, the tanks in Cushing will be completely full in mid-May.