Crude Oil Inventories Rise Unexpectedly, Ending Five Weeks of Draws

Crude oil inventories in the United States rose this week, by 180,000 barrels for the week ending August 2, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API), after analysts predicted an 850,000 barrel build.

For the week prior, the API reported a 4.495 million barrel draw in crude inventories. 

This week’s build ends five weeks of API-estimated inventory draws for crude oil, halting a total loss of 24 million barrels during that time.

On Monday, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose by 0.7 million barrels as of August 2. Inventories are now at 375.8 million barrels.

Oil prices perked up somewhat on Tuesday ahead of the API data release. At 03:35 pm ET, Brent crude was trading up $0.12 (+0.16%) on the day at $76.42—down more than $2 per barrel from this time last week. The U.S. benchmark WTI was also trading up on the day by $0.21 (+0.29%) at $73.15—down roughly $2 per barrel from this time last week.

Gasoline inventories also rose this week, by 3.31 million barrels, more than offsetting last week’s 1.917-million-barrel decrease. 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 saw an increase this week of 1.22 million barrels, compared to last week’s 322,000-barrel decrease. Distillates were about 7% below the five-year average for the week ending July 26, the latest EIA data shows. 

Cushing inventories also saw a build, of 1.07 million barrels, according to API data, countering the 929,000-barrel drop in the previous week.

By Julianne Geiger 

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