Oil turns negative ahead of US weekly oil inventory report

<p>WTI crude oil is down 45-cents to $80.89 ahead of the EIA weekly oil inventory data at the bottom of the hour. Oil prices spike to $82.43 earlier after the API report showed a massive 15.4 million barrel draw.</p><p>The consensus on the EIA data is:</p><ul><li>Crude -1367K</li><li>Gasoline -1300K</li><li>Distillates +112K</li><li>Refinery utilization 0% change</li></ul><p>API data released late yesterday:</p><ul><li>Crude -15400K</li><li>Gasoline -1680K</li><li>Distillates -512K</li></ul><p>It's safe to say that the market is priced for larger draws than the 'consensus' but there's plenty going on in the background, including broad USD strength after a hot ADP print. There were also rumors of a huge draw so there could be some profit taking at work. Finally, technical sellers will note the importance of $83.53, which was the April high. Given the one-way trade since early July, there could be some profit taking underway.</p>

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.