The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 9.119 million barrels in the week ending June 5. Analysts had expected a 3.4 million draw. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 6.75 million barrels.
Despite inventories dropping by a hard-to-stomach 44 million barrels over the last 8 weeks according to API data, US crude inventories are still up almost 7 million barrels so far this year, according to API data.
Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) are also falling quickly as the Trump Administration looks to alleviate pricing pressure. For the week ending June 5, another 7.9 million barrels left the SPR, bringing the new total to 349.2 million barrels—the lowest level since August 2023 and 376 million barrels shy of maximum capacity.
US production slipped to 13.707 million bpd for the week ending May 29, down from 13.715 million bpd in the week prior, according to the latest EIA data, and up 299,000 bpd from a year earlier.
At 2:35 pm ET on Tuesday, before data release, Brent crude was trading down on the day at $91.39 (-3.03%) even as the EIA warned that OECD oil stockpiles were set to go below 2.3 billion barrels—a level not seen in decades.
Brent has fallen roughly $2.50 per barrel since last Wednesday. WTI was also trading down on the day, by $3.18 per barrel (-3.48%) at $88.12, which is a roughly $4 dropoff from last Tuesday.
Gasoline inventories also fell this week, by 1.191 million barrels in the week ending June 5. In the week prior, gasoline inventories increased by 3.45 million barrels. In the week prior, gasoline inventories were already 6% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.
Distillate inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels, after shedding 214,000 barrels in the week prior. Distillate inventories were already 11% below the five-year average as of the week ending May 29, the latest EIA data shows.
Cushing inventory—the inventory kept at the delivery hub for the WTI Crude futures contract—fell by 1.125 million barrels over the reporting period after falling 279,000 barrels in the week prior.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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