US crude near two-week high ahead of EIA report

US West Texas Intermediate rose again to near two-week high, heading for the fourth daily profit in five sessions, and supported by a drop in US crude stocks to a two-year low according to initial data, while the EIA is due to release the official report later today.

As of 13:35 GMT, US West Texas Intermediate rose $57.70 a barrel from the opening of $57.43, with an intraday high at $57.81, and a low at $57.38. 

US crude lost 1% yesterday on profit taking after hitting a two-week at $58.54, and as analysts expect US crude output to hit new record highs. 

The Energy Information Administration said in its monthly projections that US output will rise by 780 thousand bpd to a new record high at 10.02 million bpd in 2018. 

The American Petroleum Institute released initial data that showed US crude inventories tumbled by 7.4 million barrels to a total of 471.8 million barrels, the lowest since October 2015.

The official EIA report is expected to show a drop of 3.6 million barrels, while US output rose last week by 25 thousand bpd to a fresh record high at 9.71 million bpd.