Key facts
- US crude oil inventories rose by 1.019 million barrels in the week ending September 25, contrary to analyst expectations of a 1.9 million barrel draw.
- Gasoline inventories increased by 2.991 million barrels during the same week.
- Distillate inventories fell by 286,000 barrels, following a larger dip in the previous week.
- Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) inventories decreased by 800,000 barrels.
- US crude production was 13.939 million bpd for the week ending September 18.
Crude oil inventories in the United States unexpectedly increased by 1.019 million barrels in the week ending September 25, according to estimates from the American Petroleum Institute (API). This build contrasts with analyst expectations for a 1.9 million barrel draw. In the prior week, US crude inventories had grown by 1.786 million barrels.
Despite the recent build, commercial crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), have seen a net draw of 38 million barrels over the past 24 weeks. However, overall US crude inventories are up nearly 13 million barrels for the year, partly due to releases from the SPR. In the week ending September 25, 800,000 barrels were released from the SPR, bringing its total holdings to 283.8 million barrels, which is 430 million barrels below maximum capacity. The generally accepted operational minimum for the SPR is between 250-300 million barrels.
US crude production for the week ending September 18 was reported at 13.939 million barrels per day (bpd), a slight decrease from the previous week but up 438,000 bpd from a year earlier.
Gasoline inventories rose by 2.991 million barrels in the week ending September 25, following a 2.16 million barrel decrease in the prior week. Gasoline inventories were 6% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to EIA data.
Distillate inventories dropped by 286,000 barrels, adding to the 2.164-million-barrel dip seen in the previous week. Distillate inventories were 12% below the five-year average heading into this reporting period.
At 4:15 pm ET on Wednesday, Brent crude was trading down 2.83% at $102.32 per barrel, while WTI crude was down 3.93% at $88.96 per barrel. Despite intraday losses, Brent crude had risen nearly $5 since the previous week, while WTI had seen a slight decrease of $0.20.