Crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 4.593 million barrels for the week ending March 14, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API). This came as a surprise, with analysts expecting a smaller increase of 1.7 million barrels. So far this year, crude oil stockpiles have grown by more than 21 million barrels, based on API data analyzed by Oilprice.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported a 0.3 million-barrel rise in crude oil inventories within the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for the week ending March 14. The SPR now holds 395.9 million barrels, though this remains significantly lower than pre-withdrawal levels under the Biden administration.
As of 4:02 pm ET, Brent crude traded down by $0.52 (-0.73%) at $70.55, reflecting a near $1 per barrel increase from last week. Similarly, U.S. benchmark WTI crude was down by $0.70 (-1.04%) at $66.88, marking a $0.40 per barrel gain from the previous week.
In contrast to crude oil, gasoline inventories fell by 1.708 million barrels during the week ending March 14, following a larger drop of 4.560 million barrels the previous week. Despite these declines, gasoline inventories are still 1% higher than 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 took a hit, dropping by 2.146 million barrels in the latest week. This follows a small increase of 421,000 barrels in the previous week. As of March 7, distillate stocks were already about 5% below the five-year average, EIA data shows.
Additionally, inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for U.S. futures contracts, fell by 1.141 million barrels, continuing the downward trend after a 1.196 million-barrel decline the week before.
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