
Oil Inventories Unexpectedly Rise by 1.6M Barrels Last Week: API Report
By Yasin Ebrahim
U.S. crude oil inventories saw an unexpected increase last week, as reported by the API on Tuesday. This surge has heightened concerns regarding a potential slowdown in demand, particularly in light of tightening lockdown measures in China and apprehensions surrounding softer global economic growth.
The U.S. benchmark for oil was trading at $99.30 per barrel following the report, having settled down 3.2% at $100.11 per barrel earlier.
Crude oil inventories rose by 1.6 million barrels for the week ending May 5. This contrasts with a draw of 3.5 million barrels noted in the previous week and comes as a surprise given that economists had anticipated a decrease of about 457,000 barrels.
Additionally, the API data revealed an increase of 823,000 barrels in gasoline inventories last week, along with a rise of approximately 662,000 barrels in distillate stocks.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to reflect a weekly decrease of about 457,000 barrels in U.S. crude oil inventories.