US Department of Energy (DOE) released an official weekly report on US oil inventories today at 3:30 pm BST. Report was expected to show an increase in crude oil inventories as well as declines in gasoline and distillate stockpiles. However, while API report confirmed an expected build in crude oil inventories and drop in gasoline inventories, it also hinted at an unexpected increase in distillate stockpiles.
Official report showed showed increases in all three major categories of fuel inventories. Headlien crude oil inventories surged almost 6 million barrels while gasoline inventories unexpectedly showed a 0.71 million barrel build. Distillate inventories also showed a build and it was even bigger than the one suggested by API yesterday.
DOE report on oil inventories
- Oil inventories: +5.84 mb vs +2.4 mb expected (API: +3.03 mb)
- Gasoline inventories: +0.71 mb vs -1.3 mb expected (API: -0.61 mb)
- Distillate inventories: +1.66 mb vs -1.2 mb expected (API: +0.12 mb)
The report was clearly bearish for the oil prices and such a reaction was observed in the market after its release. Oil moved lower with Brent (OIL) dropping around 0.2-0.3%.
Source: xStation5