Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 1.58 million barrels for the week ending October 11, as reported by the American Petroleum Institute (API). This decline came as a surprise to analysts, who had anticipated an increase of 3.2 million barrels.
In the previous week, the API had indicated a significant build of 10.9 million barrels in crude inventories. Since the start of the year, crude oil inventories have dropped by 7 million barrels, according to API data.
Additionally, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported a rise in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which increased by 1 million barrels as of October 11. Current SPR inventories stand at 383.9 million barrels. This marks an increase of more than 36 million barrels from the multi-decade low observed last summer. However, it is still 251 million barrels lower than the levels when President Biden took office. If the current rate of replenishment continues, it may take over five years to return to the inventory levels seen in January 2020.
As of 4:53 PM ET, Brent crude was trading at $74.43, up $0.18 or 0.24% on the day, though it reflects nearly a $3 per barrel loss compared to the previous Tuesday. The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also showed a slight increase, trading up $0.03 or 0.04% at $70.61, which is a loss of $3 per barrel from last week.
In terms of gasoline inventories, there was a notable decrease of 5.926 million barrels this week, contrasting with a smaller decline of 557,000 barrels reported last week. As a result, gasoline inventories are now 4% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Distillate inventories also saw a decline, falling by 2.672 million barrels, following a decrease of 2.59 million barrels in the prior week. Distillate levels were approximately 9% below the five-year average as of the week ending October 4, according to EIA data.
Lastly, inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma—the critical delivery point for U.S. futures contracts—rose by 410,000 barrels, building on the previous week’s increase of 1.359 million barrels as reported by the API.
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