Oil prices briefly increased on Wednesday on reports of falling reserves and increased refinery activity, although the market will remain depressed despite the rise through 2016.

Oil price in brief climb

NEW YORK, November 18, 2015 – Oil prices briefly increased on Wednesday on reports of falling reserves and increased refinery activity, although the market will remain depressed despite the rise through 2016.

An American Petroleum Institute statement from Tuesday said US stocks of crude had fallen by 482,000 barrels last week because of refinery activity, which added 29 cents on the crude’s barrel price of $40.96 on Wednesday morning. The market will be overstocked until the first half of 2016.

The global economic slowdown is also preventing the seasonal up-take of reserves, while storing 700,000-2.5 million barrels of excess oil produced daily is costly for oil companies.

According to Reuters news, the increased refinery activity is unlikely to reduce the glut in the market, with the slight rise preventing long-term hopes of sustained gains in the price of oil.

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