U.S. Crude Oil, Product Inventories Increase As WTI Jumps to $70

Crude oil inventories in the United rose by 1.232 million barrels for the week ending November 22, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). Analysts had expected a draw of 2.06 million barrels.

For the week prior, the API reported a 4.753 barrel build in crude inventories.

So far this year, crude oil inventories have fallen by just over 4 million barrels since the beginning of the year, according to API data.

On Tuesday, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose by 1.4 million barrels as of November 29. SPR inventories are now at 391.8 million barrels, a figure that is about 45 million above its multi-decade low last summer, yet still 243 million down from when President Biden took office.

At 2:58 pm ET, Brent crude was trading up $1.85 (+2.58%) on the day at $73.68—up roughly $1 per barrel compared to last Tuesday as rumors abound that OPEC+ will hold the line with production cuts, staving off fears that the market could soon see an influx of supply should they relax their plan. The U.S. benchmark WTI was also trading up on the day by $1.93 (+2.83%) at $70.03—up about $1.50 per barrel from last Tuesday.

Gasoline inventories rose this week by 4.623 million barrels on top of last week’s 1.814-million-barrel increase. As of last week, gasoline inventories are 3% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.

Distillate inventories rose by 1.014 million barrels, after last week’s 2.543-million-barrel increase. Distillate inventories were about 5% below the five-year average as of the week ending November 22, the latest EIA data shows.

Cushing inventories—the benchmark crude stored and traded at the key delivery point for U.S. futures contracts in Cushing, Oklahoma—rise by 112,000 barrels, according to API data, after falling by 734,000 barrels in the previous week.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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