Energy

Crude Oil Price Gains Dip Following Inventory Increase

Paul Ausick

Published: April 27, 2016 11:10 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 10:13 am

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report Wednesday morning. U.S. commercial crude inventories increased by 2 million barrels last week, maintaining a total U.S. commercial crude inventory of 540.6 million barrels. The commercial crude inventory remains at historically high levels for this time of year, according to the EIA.

Tuesday evening the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that crude inventories fell by 1.1 million barrels in the week ending April 22. For the same period, analysts at Platts had estimated an increase of 800,000 barrels in crude inventories. API also reported gasoline supplies fell by 400,000 barrels and distillate stockpiles fell by a million barrels.

Total gasoline inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels last week, according to the EIA, and remain well above the upper limit of the five-year average range. Total motor gasoline supplied (the agency’s measure of consumption) averaged 9.4 million barrels a day for the past four weeks, up by 5.6% compared with the same period a year ago.

U.S. crude production is on track to decline year over year in 2016. In the first quarter of this year, production has dropped by 370,000 barrels a day, according the EIA. Production could decline by as much as 700,000 barrels a day by the end of the year.

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