Crude Oil Inventories Bounce Back as Gasoline and Distillate Stocks Decline
US crude oil inventories experienced a minor uptick in the week ending September 18, according to API data. The country's commercial crude oil inventories excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) have lost 39 million barrels over the last 23 weeks.
The SPR itself saw an outflow of 400,000 barrels during this period, bringing its total inventory down to 284.6 million barrels. This level is significantly below the maximum capacity of 713.5 million barrels and even falls short of the generally accepted operational minimum of 250-300 million barrels.
Meanwhile, gasoline inventories fell by 2.16 million barrels in the week ending September 18, while distillate stocks dropped by a similar amount of 2.164 million barrels. Both types of fuel are now below their respective five-year averages for this time of year.