WTI Climbs Above $61 As Crude Stocks Dwindle

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday a draw in crude oil inventories of 5.8 million barrels for the week ending February 12.

Analysts had predicted an inventory draw of 2.429 million barrels for the week.

In the previous week, the API reported a draw in oil inventories of 3.500-million barrels after analysts had predicted a build of 985,000 barrels.

Oil prices were trading up on Tuesday ahead of the data release, supported by the shock of freezing temperatures across parts of the United States, including Texas, which caused production outages through a fair amount of oil country.

At 3:17 p.m. EDT, before Tuesday's data release, WTI had risen by $1.15 on the day (+1.92%) to $61.20-almost a $3 increase over this time last week.

The Brent crude benchmark had risen on the day $1.07 at that time (+1.69%) to $64.41-also up nearly $3 on the week.

U.S. oil production ticked up 100,000 barrels per day to 11 million bpd, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The API reported a build in gasoline inventories of 3.9 million barrels for the week ending February 12-after the previous week's 4.810-million-barrel build. Analysts had expected a 1.397-million-barrel build for the week.

Distillate stocks saw a decrease of 3.500 million barrels for the week, after last week's 487,000-barrel decrease.

Fill levels of the Enbridge tanks in the south of Cushing as of Friday, February 12.

Cushing inventories fell by 3.00 million barrels. Last week, inventories held in Cushing decreased by 1.378 million barrels. "As of Tuesday's measure, Enbridge stocks have dropped over 2 million bbl since Friday 5th February," Dan Schnurr, co-founder of Geospatial Insight, told Oilprice.

Post data release, at 4:40 p.m. EDT, the WTI benchmark was trading at $61.25, while Brent crude was trading at $64.45.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.ocm

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