US Crude Oil, Oil Product Inventories Come Crashing Down

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 4.4 million barrels in the week ending April 17. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories rose by 6.10 million barrels. Analysts had expected a 1 million barrel draw.

Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) continue to draw down to alleviate the pressure on prices. For week ending April 17, 4.2 million barrels left the SPR, bringing the new total to 405 million barrels. This is 320.5 million barrels shy of maximum capacity.

US production stayed at 13.596 million bpd for the week ending April 10, according to the latest EIA data. This is 134,000 bpd more than this same time last year.

At 4:47 pm ET, moments after data release, Brent crude was trading up on the day at $99.06 (+3.75%). This is up roughly $4 per barrel week over week on continued uneasiness over the failure of the US’s ability to reach a deal with Iran. WTI was also trading up on the day, by $2.74 per barrel (+3.13%) at $90.16 down roughly $1.80 per barrel week over week.

Gasoline inventories fell this week by 5.165 million barrels in the week ending April 17. In the week prior, gasoline inventories rose by 626,000 barrels. As of last week, gasoline inventories were 1% above the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.

Distillate inventories fell by 4.59 million barrels, after shedding 3.4 million barrels in the week prior. Distillate inventories were already 6% below the five-year average as of the week ending April 10, the latest EIA data shows.

Cushing inventory—the inventory kept at the delivery hub for the WTI Crude futures contract—rose by 678,000 barrels, after falling by 1.7 million barrels in the week prior.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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