U.S. Oil Inventories Jump as Cushing Stocks Keep Falling

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by a very large 7.14 million barrels in the week ending September 11. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 300,000 barrels.Commercial crude oil inventories excluding the SPR have lost just over 41 million barrels over the last 22 weeks, with US crude inventories up nearly 10 million for the year, according to API data, kept in check by draws from the SPR.For the week ending September 11, another 400,000 barrels left the SPR to aid commercial inventories, bringing the new total inventory held in the SPR to 285 million barrels—a level that is 446 million barrels shy of maximum capacity.The generally accepted operational minimum for oil in the SPR is between 250-300 million barrels, below which the reserve may find it difficult to pump and process oil efficiently.US production for the week ending Sept 4 rose to 13.947 million bpd, up from 13.862 in the week prior, and up 452,000 bpd from a year earlier.At 4:13 pm ET on Wednesday, Brent crude was trading up on the day at $108.68 (+2.84%), a more than $7 per barrel gain week over week.WTI was also trading up on the day, by $3.83 per barrel (+3.70%) at $107.38, up roughly $11 per barrel from this time last week.Gasoline inventories rose 1.46 million barrels in the week ending September 11. In the week prior, gasoline inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels. In the week prior, gasoline inventories were 5% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.Distillate inventories gained 1.61 million barrels, on top of the 2-million-barrel gain in the week prior. Distillate inventories were 13% below the five-year average heading into this reporting period, the latest EIA data shows.Cushing inventory—the inventory kept at the delivery hub for the WTI Crude futures contract—fell by 246,000 barrels over the reporting period after falling by 300,000 barrels in the week prior.By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.comMore Top Reads From Oilprice.com$100 Oil Puts Central Banks Back on Inflation AlertDrone Strikes Cripple Half of Russia's Top Diesel RefineriesChina’s Yuan Crude Oil Futures Jump to Record High