Crude Oil Inventory Balloons but Gasoline, Diesel Inventories Fall

Crude oil inventories in the United States rose again this week, adding 9.05 million barrels into inventory for week ending November 17, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API), after a 1.335-million-barrel rise in crude inventories in the week prior, API data showed. Analysts had expected a 1.467 million barrel build.

API data shows a net build in crude oil inventories in the United States of 21 million barrels so far this year.

On Monday, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) stayed the same for the seventh week in a row, with the SPR inventory still sitting at a near 40-year low of 351.3 million barrels, with total purchases for the SPR coming in at less than 4 million barrels since the Biden Administration began its buyback program.

Oil prices were trading down ahead of API data release, with Brent trading down 0.45% at $81.95 at 12:31 p.m. ET—a roughly $0.50 dip week over week. The U.S. benchmark WTI was trading down on the day by 0.57%, at $77.39. WTI is down nearly $0.85 per barrel from this same time last week.

Gasoline inventories fell this week by 1.79 million barrels, after a 195,000 barrel increase in the week prior. Distillate inventories also fell this week, by 3.51 million barrels, on top of the 1.022-million-barrel draw in the week prior, while Cushing inventories rose by 640,000 barrels.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

• JP Morgan Expects Brent Crude to Average $83 in 2024
• China Looks to Kickstart Its Domestic Biodiesel Industry
• Global Refining Industry Braces for Tough 2024