Crude oil inventories in the United States saw a significant increase of 4.593 million barrels for the week ending March 14, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API). This surge far exceeded analysts’ expectations of a 1.7 million-barrel rise. With this recent gain, U.S. crude oil inventories have risen by more than 21 million barrels so far this year, based on API data calculations.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported a modest 0.3 million-barrel rise in crude oil inventories at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) during the same week, bringing the total to 395.9 million barrels. However, inventory levels in the SPR remain significantly below pre-withdrawal levels, a situation that arose following the Biden Administration’s decision to tap into the reserve.
In market activity, as of 4:02 PM ET, Brent crude was trading at $70.55, down by $0.52 (-0.73%) on the day, although it had gained nearly $1 per barrel from the same time last week. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was also lower on the day, down $0.70 (-1.04%) to $66.88, though it had gained $0.40 per barrel since last week.
On the product side, gasoline inventories fell by 1.708 million barrels in the week ending March 14, following a larger decline of 4.560 million barrels the previous week. As of the latest data, gasoline stocks are 1% higher than the five-year average for this time of year.
Distillate inventories also dropped sharply, shedding 2.146 million barrels during the same period. This follows a modest increase of 421,000 barrels in the prior week. Distillate stocks were already about 5% below the five-year average as of March 7, according to the latest EIA data.
At the key delivery point for U.S. futures contracts in Cushing, Oklahoma, Cushing inventories fell by 1.141 million barrels during the week, continuing a trend of declines after a drop of 1.196 million barrels in the previous week.