Crude oil inventories in the United States saw a significant increase of 8.7 million barrels during the week ending January 31, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Prior to the release of the data, crude oil prices were already trending lower, with both the WTI and Brent benchmarks dropping over one percent. The latest inventory build aligns with seasonal trends and is larger than the 3.5 million-barrel increase reported the previous week.
The EIA also estimated a rise of 2.2 million barrels in total motor gasoline inventories for the week ending January 31. Gasoline production averaged 9.2 million barrels per day, similar to the previous week’s figures. Gasoline inventories had increased by 3.0 million barrels the week before.
For middle distillates, the EIA reported a 5.5 million-barrel drop in inventories, with production averaging 4.6 million barrels daily. This marks a slight decrease from the prior week’s inventory loss of 5 million barrels, when daily production averaged 4.7 million barrels.
Over the last four weeks, total products supplied averaged 20.6 million barrels per day, showing a 3.3% increase from the same period last year. Distillate products supplied saw a significant rise of 13.7%, while gasoline supplied was slightly down by 0.2%.
The inventory build contributed to a drop in crude oil prices, with WTI falling by around $1 per gallon. Following the data release, Brent crude was trading at $75.12 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $71.60 per barrel, both lower than earlier prices.
On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported similar inventory changes. API’s data showed a 5.025 million-barrel increase in crude oil inventories, a 5.426 million-barrel rise in gasoline stocks, and a 6.979 million-barrel decline in distillate inventories. The API also reported a slight 110,000-barrel rise in Cushing inventories.
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