The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.79 million barrels in the week ending April 24. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 4.4 million barrels. Analysts had expected a 300,000-barrel build.
US crude inventories are up 45 million barrels so far this year, according to API data.
Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) continue to draw down to alleviate the pressure on prices. For week ending April 24, 7.1 million barrels left the SPR, bringing the new total to 397.9 million barrels. This is 327.6 million barrels shy of maximum capacity.
US production fell to 13.585 million bpd for the week ending April 17, down from 13.596 million bpd in the week prior, according to the latest EIA data. This is 125,000 bpd more than this same time last year.
At 1:42 pm ET, moments after data release, Brent crude was trading up on the day at $111.10 (+2.60%). This is up roughly $12 per barrel week over week as a deal with Iran continues to be out of reach. WTI was also trading up on the day, by $3.80 per barrel (+4.00%) at $100.20, up roughly $10 per barrel week over week.
Gasoline inventories fell this week by 8.47 million barrels in the week ending April 24. In the week prior, gasoline inventories fell by 5.165 million barrels. As of last week, gasoline inventories were 0.5% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.
Distillate inventories fell by 2.6 million barrels, after shedding 4.59 million barrels in the week prior. Distillate inventories were already 8% below the five-year average as of the week ending April 17, the latest EIA data shows.
Cushing inventory—the inventory kept at the delivery hub for the WTI Crude futures contract—fell by 820,000 barrels, after rising by 678,000 barrels in the week prior.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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