NEW YORK, March 11 (UPI) -- An expected moderation in U.S. crude oil inventories helped stimulate oil prices Wednesday, briefly ending a short-term faltering in the seasonal rally.
Brent crude oil prices are down more than 6 percent since the start of March as a February surge fades. Brent has been unable to hold above the $60 mark for most of the year, though the early Wednesday price of $56.73 per barrel for April delivery was about one half percent above the close for the previous trading day.
Some support for crude oil prices followed the short-term market report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Data show U.S. crude oil inventories of 444 million barrels at the end of last month, above the record level set in 1930.
Oil prices are at the point where energy companies are trimming spending on exploration and production, as reflected in much-watched rig counts from shale-rich states like North Dakota. EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski said the U.S. energy sector may start to slow down in the coming months.
"The increase in oil inventories is expected to moderate as refineries ramp up their processing of crude oil into petroleum products in the second quarter and domestic oil production slows," he said in Tuesday's report.
Wednesday's trend may be short-lived, however. Mohammad al-Shatti, a director at Kuwait Petroleum Corp., told the official Kuwaiti News Agency a high-valued U.S. dollar may throttle any major upward trajectory for oil as the greenback is the currency used for trade in oil.
The U.S. dollar's increase in value corresponds to a parallel drop in the euro.
The price for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil benchmark, held steady in early Wednesday trading to sell for $48.45 per barrel, a fraction of a percent above the previous close. WTI prices since the beginning of the month are relatively stable.
