US oil inventories rose last week on reduced fuel demand and reached the highest level since June 2021, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday (25).
Oil inventories increased by 533,000 barrels last week to 448.5 million barrels in the week ended January 20. Volume, however, was substantially below forecasts for a 1 million barrel increase.
US crude futures rose more than $1 to a high of $81.23 earlier in the session before paring gains.
“The increase was much smaller than anticipated and that is raising concerns about supply tightness,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group.
Crude Oil rose amid a dip in weekly fuel demand and as refineries continued to ramp up activity after December winter storm Elliott disrupted refining capacity.
US gasoline inventories rose by 1.8 million barrels for the week to 232 million barrels, the IEA said.
While demand for distillates fell by 146,000 barrels a day, inventories of distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 0.5 million to 115.3 million barrels, IEA data showed.
Crude refining operations surged by 128,000 barrels a day in the last week, the EIA said, as refineries got back up and running after a winter storm in December caused plants to halt some production.
(Reporting by Laura Sanicola)
Source: CNN Brasil
I am an experienced journalist, writer, and editor with a passion for finance and business news. I have been working in the journalism field for over 6 years, covering a variety of topics from finance to technology. As an author at World Stock Market, I specialize in finance business-related topics.
