In the most recent week, U.S. crude oil stockpiles experienced an increase following a significant drop in the preceding week. Meanwhile, gasoline and distillate inventories continued to decline, as reported by the American Petroleum Institute (API), a prominent petroleum industry group.
According to the API’s report, U.S. crude oil inventories likely rose by approximately 1.6 million barrels during the week concluding on September 22. This comes after the API reported a substantial 5.25 million barrel reduction in crude stocks for the week ending on September 15.
It’s worth noting that the API’s data serves as a preliminary indicator for the official inventory figures released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), which are scheduled to be published on Wednesday.
Despite the overall increase in crude stockpiles, the API highlighted a decrease of 0.828 million barrels in Cushing, Oklahoma’s storage hub. Cushing plays a pivotal role as a central delivery and storage point for U.S. crude. In the prior week, the API reported a deficit of 2.564 million barrels in Cushing.
On the refined fuels front, the API revealed a reduction of 0.07 million barrels in gasoline inventories and a decline of 1.698 million barrels in distillate stocks. This contrasts with the previous week when the API reported a 0.732 million barrel build in gasoline and a decrease of 0.258 million barrels in distillate inventories.
With the API’s report now available, attention turns to the upcoming EIA report, which will shed further light on last week’s oil supply and demand dynamics in the United States. These figures have the potential to influence crude oil prices, which have surged by approximately 30% over the past three months. This surge can be attributed to factors such as a reduction in Saudi-Russian production and a prioritization of supply reduction over actual demand in the global oil market.
Analysts anticipate that the EIA will report a decrease of 1.65 million barrels in crude oil stockpiles for the most recent week, compared to the 2.135 million barrel reduction in the previous week.
Regarding gasoline inventories, consensus estimates suggest a decline of 0.050 million barrels, following a decrease of 0.831 million barrels in the previous week. Gasoline remains a key fuel product in the United States.
In the case of distillate stockpiles, expectations point to a decrease of 2.0 million barrels, contrasting with the prior week’s deficit of 2.867 million barrels. Distillates are crucial for producing heating oil, diesel fuel for various forms of transportation, and jet fuel.