Crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 499,000 barrels for the week ending November 29, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API). Analysts had predicted a drawdown of 1.30 million barrels.
This follows a 1.232-million-barrel build reported by API in the previous week.
Year-to-date, U.S. crude oil inventories have decreased by approximately 3.4 million barrels, API data shows.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) reported on Tuesday that inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose by 700,000 barrels as of December 6. SPR inventories now stand at 392.5 million barrels, still significantly lower than their levels when President Biden took office—down by about 242 million barrels. However, they remain approximately 46 million barrels above the low point reached last summer.
As of 3:11 p.m. ET, Brent crude was trading at $72.06, down $0.08 (-0.11%) for the day, a drop of about $1.60 per barrel from the previous Tuesday. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up by $0.08 (+0.12%) at $68.45, reflecting a $1.50 per barrel increase from the same time last week.
Gasoline inventories saw a rise of 2.852 million barrels this week, building on last week’s 4.623-million-barrel increase. However, gasoline inventories remain 4% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Distillate inventories also grew, with a 2.452-million-barrel increase following a 1.014-million-barrel gain the week prior.
As of November 29, distillate inventories were approximately 5% below the five-year average.
In Cushing, Oklahoma, where U.S. crude futures are stored and traded, inventories dropped by 1.517 million barrels, according to API. This followed a slight increase of 112,000 barrels the previous week.
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