Crude Inventories Rise By 1.6 Million Barrels, Exceeding Analyst Estimates

Key Insights

• Crude inventories grew by 1.6 million barrels from the previous week. 
• Domestic oil production remained unchanged at 13.2 million bpd. 
• WTI oil has started to move away from session lows after the release of the EIA report. 

On November 29, EIA released Weekly Petroleum Status Report. The report indicated that crude inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels from the previous week. Analysts expected that crude inventories would decline by 0.9 million barrels.

Total motor gasoline inventories grew by 1.8 million barrels, while distillate fuel inventories increased by 5.2 million barrels. Crude oil imports averaged 5.8 million bpd, declining by almost 0.7 million bpd from the previous week.

Domestic oil production remained unchanged at 13.2 million bpd. Current oil prices do not provide sufficient incentives to increase production. At the same time, it should be noted that domestic oil production remains at multi-month highs.

Interestingly, Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased from 351.3 million barrels to 351.6 million barrels. U.S. has started to buy oil for reserves after the strong pullback from September highs.

WTI oil is trying to move away from session lows after the release of the EIA report. The minor purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve may serve as a bullish catalyst for oil markets.

Brent oil settled in the $81.00 – $81.50 range. The EIA report is an important catalyst for the oil markets, but traders are also waiting for the news from OPEC+. Meanwhile, oil supply disruption which was caused by the storm in the Black Sea continues to provide some support to oil prices.

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