The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States saw a build of 1.7 million barrels in the week ending December 26. Crude oil inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels in the week prior.
Crude oil inventories in the United States are so far showing a net decrease of 5.1 million barrels for the year, according to Oilprice calculations of API data.
Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) have risen by 200,000 barrels to 413.2 million barrels in the week ending December 26 as the Trump Administration trudges ahead to replenish depleted stockpiles.
US production fell during the week of December 19 to 13.825 million bpd, down from 13.843 million bpd in the week prior, according to the latest EIA data. This is 262,000 bpd more than the beginning of the year levels.
At 12:56 pm ET, Brent crude was trading essentially flat on the day at $61.95 (+0.02%). Brent is now $0.50 down from this time last week. WTI was also trading down on the day, by $0.12 (-0.21%) at $57.97.
Gasoline inventories saw another increase this week, gaining 6.2 million barrels in the week ending December 26. In the week prior, gasoline inventories grew by 1.1 million barrels. As of last week, gasoline inventories were slightly above the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.
Distillate inventories also rose in the reporting period, gaining 1 million barrels, after gaining 700,000 barrels in the week prior. Distillate inventories were still 5% below the five-year average as of the week ending December 19, the latest EIA data shows.
Cushing inventory—the inventory kept at the delivery hub for the WTI Crude futures contract—rose by 800,000 barrels, after increasing by 600,000 barrels in the prior week.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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