Crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 1.96 million barrels for the week ending September 13, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API). Analysts had predicted a decrease of 100,000 barrels.
The previous week, the API reported a drop of 2.79 million barrels in crude inventories. Currently, crude oil inventories are 10.9 million barrels lower than at the beginning of the year, based on API data.
On Tuesday, the Department of Energy (DoE) announced that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) had risen by 0.6 million barrels as of September 13. The SPR now holds 380.6 million barrels. This is nearly 34 million barrels more than its low last summer but still 254 million barrels below levels when President Biden took office.
Oil prices increased on Wednesday before the API data release. At 2:31 p.m. ET, Brent crude was trading at $73.62, up by $0.87 (1.20%) for the day. This represents a nearly $4 rise from the previous week. The U.S. benchmark, WTI, was trading at $71.16, up by $1.07 (+1.53%)—nearly $5 more per barrel than last Tuesday. The market is awaiting a Federal Reserve decision on interest rates.
Gasoline inventories grew by 2.34 million barrels this week, offsetting last week’s decrease of 513,000 barrels. As of last week, gasoline inventories were 1% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.
Distillate inventories increased by 2.3 million barrels, adding to a smaller 191,000-barrel rise from the previous week. Distillate inventories were approximately 8% below the five-year average for the week ending September 6, based on the latest EIA data.
Cushing inventories experienced another significant draw, decreasing by 1.4 million barrels, according to API data. This follows a 2.6-million-barrel draw from the previous week.