Crude Oil Inventories Surge Past Expectations

US crude oil inventories rose by around 1% last week, significantly exceeding market expectations. According to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), US commercial crude oil inventories increased by approximately 4.4 million barrels to 428.8 million barrels in the week ending August 14.

Market analysts had forecasted a rise of around 200,000 barrels, but the actual increase was nearly 22 times higher than anticipated. Meanwhile, strategic petroleum reserves decreased by about 5.3 million barrels to 293.4 million barrels over the same period.

US crude oil production also saw an uptick, with output rising by 25,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 13.83 million bpd during the week ending August 14. This marks a significant increase in domestic production levels. US crude oil imports decreased by 746,000 bpd to around 6.6 million bpd, while exports increased by 1 million bpd to about 4.07 million bpd over the same period.