The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 8.1 million barrels in the week ending May 1. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 1.79 million barrels. Analysts had expected a 2.8-million-barrel draw.

US crude inventories are up 37 million barrels so far this year, according to API data.

Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) continue to draw down in an attempt to alleviate the pressure on prices. For week ending May 1, 5.2 million barrels left the SPR, bringing the new total to 392.7 million barrels—the lowest level since November 2024 and 332.8 million barrels shy of maximum capacity.

US production inched up slightly to 13.586 million bpd for the week ending April 24, up from 13.585 million bpd in the week prior, according to the latest EIA data. This is 121,000 bpd more than this same time last year.

At 3:33 pm ET on Tuesday, an hour before data release, Brent crude was trading down on the day at $109.90 (-3.98%). This is also down $1.20 week over week. WTI was also trading down on the day, by $3.96 per barrel (-3.74%) at $102.40, up roughly $2 per barrel week over week.

Gasoline inventories fell this week by 6.1 million barrels in the week ending May 1. In the week prior, gasoline inventories fell by 8.47 million barrels. As of last week, gasoline inventories were already 2% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.

Distillate inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels, after shedding 2.6 million barrels in the week prior. Distillate inventories were already 11% below the five-year average as of the week ending April 24, the latest EIA data shows.

Cushing inventory—the inventory kept at the delivery hub for the WTI Crude futures contract—fell by 1 million barrels, after sinking by 820,000 barrels in the week prior, with oilprice.com estimates that they are now below 29 million barrels. 

Source: Oil Price.Com

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