The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a build this week for crude oil of 5.607 million barrels, while analysts predicted a draw of 1.433 million barrels.
It is the first build over 5 million barrels since mid-February, according to API data.
The build comes as the Department of Energy released 6.8 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves in Week Ending June 17.
U.S. crude inventories have shed some 68 million barrels since the start of 2021 and about 11 million barrels since the start of 2020, according to API data.
In the week prior, the API reported a build in crude oil inventories of 736,000 barrels after analysts had predicted a draw of 1.2 million barrels.
WTI was trading down on Wednesday at 3.88% moments before the release, sinking to $105.30 per barrel. Brent crude was trading down 3.38% on the day at $110.80.
U.S. crude oil production rose to 12 million bpd—the first increase in four weeks—for the week ending June 10—a 1.1 million barrels per day decrease from pre-pandemic times.
This week, the API reported a build in gasoline inventories of 1.216 million barrels for the week ending June 17, compared to the previous week’s 2.159-million-barrel draw.
Distillate stocks saw an inventory draw of 1.656 million barrels for the week, compared to last week’s 234,000-barrel increase.
Cushing saw a decrease of 390,000 barrels this week. Cushing inventories slipped to 22.615 million barrels in the week prior, as of June 10, according to EIA data—down by nearly two-thirds from 59.2 million barrels at the start of 2021, and down from 37.3 million barrels at the end of 2021.
At 4:37 pm, ET, WTI was trading down at $105.20 (-3.93%), with Brent trading down at $110.80 (-3.39%).
Crude Oil