Increases in crude oil supplies have little effect on prices

Oil prices today are almost 36% higher than a year ago. Although crude oil supplies jumped by1.5 million barrels to about 333.8 million last week as per a report, there has been little change in the price of oil. This is despite the fact that US refiners are running their plants to the maximum since Sept. 3. The latest increase in U.S. crude-oil inventories is the 14th in the past 16 weeks causing stockpiles to be 8.4% higher than the five-year average for the period. U.S. refineries have been operating at 96.2% of their capacity, from 94.6% the week before. These levels are still below refinery utilization rates that peaked at 97% last year. Crude oil for July delivery little changed at US$53.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, prices are not sustainable at the current high levels of inventory. Will we once again witness oil prices hovering around or below US$50?