The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States saw a build of 2.4 million barrels in the week ending December 19. Crude oil inventories shrank by 9.3 million barrels in the week prior.
Crude oil inventories in the United States are so far showing a net decrease of 6.7 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 800,000 barrels to 413 million barrels in the week ending December 19 as the Trump Administration trudges ahead to replenish depleted stockpiles.
US production fell slightly during the week of December 12 to 13.843 million bpd, down from 13.853 million bpd in the week prior, according to the latest EIA data. This is 270,000 bpd more than the beginning of the year levels.
At 5:12 pm ET, Brent crude was trading up by $0.40 (+0.64%) on the day, solidly over the $60 mark seen last Tuesday. Brent is now at $62.47, a nearly $4 increase per barrel week over week. WTI was also trading up on the day, by $0.40 (+0.64%) at $58.62.
Gasoline inventories saw another increase this week, gaining 1.1 million barrels in the week ending December 19. In the week prior, gasoline inventories grew by 4.8 million barrels. As of last week, gasoline inventories were still slightly below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.
Distillate inventories also rose in the reporting period, gaining 700,000 barrels, after gaining 2.5 million barrels in the week prior. Distillate inventories were still 6% below the five-year average as of the week ending December 12, the latest EIA data shows.
Cushing inventory—the inventory kept at the delivery hub for the WTI Crude futures contract—rose by 600,000 barrels, after falling by 510,000 barrels in the prior week.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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