Crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 4.49 million barrels in the week ending May 2, according to estimates released by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The decline was significantly larger than analysts’ expectations of a 2.5-million-barrel draw. The previous week saw an inventory increase of 3.76 million barrels.
Despite the recent drop, crude inventories are still up more than 18 million barrels for the year, based on calculations from API data compiled by Oilprice.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) reported a 600,000-barrel increase in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), bringing total reserves to 399.1 million barrels as of May 2. However, that total remains far below pre-withdrawal levels from the Biden Administration’s emergency drawdown.
Oil prices climbed sharply following the API report. By 2:50 p.m. ET on Thursday, Brent crude had risen $1.83, or 3.04%, to $62.06 per barrel. Despite the jump, Brent remains about $2 below last week’s level due to recent OPEC production plans.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was also up, gaining $1.86, or 3.26%, to trade at $58.99 per barrel—still $1.20 lower than last week’s price.
Gasoline inventories declined by 1.97 million barrels in the latest week, following a 3.14 million-barrel draw the week before. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline stockpiles are now 4% below the five-year seasonal average.
Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 2.24 million barrels after falling 2.52 million barrels the previous week. As of April 25, distillate levels were 13% below the five-year average, EIA data shows.
Inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub—crucial for U.S. crude futures trading—fell by 854,000 barrels last week, following a 674,000-barrel increase the week before, the API noted.
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