The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 11.4 million barrels in the week ending February 20, after falling by 609,000 barrels in the week prior. Analysts had expected a smaller build of 1.85 million barrels.
Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) keep climbing week after week. The Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories stayed at 415.4 million barrels in the week ending February 20. This is 310.1 million barrels shy of maximum capacity.
US production increased by 22,000 bpd, reaching an average of 13.735 million bpd for week ending February 13, according to the latest EIA data. This is 238,000 bpd more than this same time last year.
At 4:14 pm ET, Brent crude was trading down on the day at $71.40 (-0.13%). Brent is now roughly $1 per barrel up from this time last week. WTI was also trading down on the day, by $0.09 (-0.14%) at $66.22.
Gasoline inventories fell this week, shrinking by 1.53 million barrels in the week ending February 20. In the week prior, gasoline inventories fell by 312,000 barrels. As of last week, gasoline inventories were 3% above the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.
Distillate inventories also fell in the reporting period by 2.77 million barrels, after losing 1.56 million barrels in the week prior. Distillate inventories were 5% below the five-year average as of the week ending February 13, the latest EIA data shows.
Cushing inventory—the inventory kept at the delivery hub for the WTI Crude futures contract—grew by 1.79 million barrels, after decreasing by 1.36 million barrels in the prior week.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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