Crude oil inventories in the United States saw a build of 4.6 million barrels during the week ending February 14, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Crude oil prices were trending higher today prior to the crude data release by the U.S. Energy Information Administration after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday a huge build of 3.34 million barrels in U.S. crude oil inventories. Both the Brent and WTI benchmarks were trading up by nearly 0.5% at $76.45 and $72.60, respectively at 10:11 am, just minutes before release.
Today’s build in crude inventories is in line with seasonal trends and adds to the 4.1 million barrels that the EIA estimated for the week prior.
For total motor gasoline, the EIA estimated that inventories decreased by 200,000 barrels for the week to February 14, with production averaging 9.2 million barrels daily. This compares with an inventory slump of 3 million barrels for the previous week and an average daily production of 9.3 million barrels daily.
For middle distillates, the EIA estimated an inventory decrease of 2.1 million barrels for last week, with production averaging 4.7 million barrels daily. This compares to a small inventory build of 100,000 barrels for the week prior, when production stood at an average 4.5 million barrels daily. Distillate inventories are now 12% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Total products supplied over the last four weeks increased to an average 20.4 million barrels per day—a 3.7% increase over this time last year. Distillate products supplied over the last four weeks are up 14.2% compared to this time last year, while gasoline products supplied was up.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com