The American Petroleum Institute (API) has estimated a crude oil inventory build of 5.954 barrels for the week ending November 14, compared to analyst expectations of a 1.543-million-barrel build-a huge discrepancy for the much-watched inventory figures.
Last week saw a draw in crude oil inventories of 500,000 million barrels, according to API data. The EIA's estimates, however, reported a build of 2.2-million barrels for that week.
After today's inventory move, the net draw for the year now sits at just 2.81 million barrels for the 47-week reporting period so far, using API data.
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Oil prices were trading down on Tuesday prior to the data release as analysts suspected US oil inventories had increased last week, in combination with stalled trade talks between China and the United States, and Russia's balking at the prospect of deeper oil production cuts.
At 2:38pm EST, WTI was trading down $1.60 (-2.80%) at $55.54-roughly $2 per barrel below last week's prices. Brent was trading down $1.34 (-2.15%) at $61.10, down roughly $1.40 a barrel from last week.
The API this week reported a build of 3.354 million barrels of gasoline for week ending November 14, almost quadruple the build that analysts predicted, which was for a build in gasoline inventories of 870,000 barrels for the week.
Distillate inventories saw a draw of 2.19 million barrels for the week, while Cushing inventories fell by 1.351 million barrels.
US crude oil production as estimated by the Energy Information Administration showed that production for the week ending November 8 moved to a brand new all-time high of 12.8 million bpd.
At 4:45pm EDT, WTI was trading at $55.38, while Brent was trading at $60.87.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More