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SPR inventories near operational minimum as US crude stocks rise

API data showed US crude inventories rose by 4.2 million barrels in the week ending August 21, while draws from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve totaled 3.7 million barrels to keep commercial stocks in check.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Energy

The American Petroleum Institute estimated that US crude oil inventories increased by 4.2 million barrels in the week ending August 21, compared with analyst expectations for a 1.9 million-barrel build, according to OilPrice.

OilPrice reported that crude inventories excluding Strategic Petroleum Reserve holdings have fallen by just over 45 million barrels over the past 19 weeks. The same API data indicated US crude inventories are up 5.8 million barrels for the year, with recent commercial inventory declines being supported by draws from the SPR.

For the week ending August 21, another 3.7 million barrels left the SPR, bringing total inventory in the reserve to 289.7 million barrels. OilPrice noted this level leaves the SPR 442 million barrels below maximum capacity, and sits below the generally accepted operational minimum of 250 to 300 million barrels.

OilPrice also said US production for the week ending August 14 rose to 13.830 million barrels per day, up from 13.805 million the prior week and up 503,000 barrels per day versus a year earlier. At 2:09 pm ET on Tuesday, Brent was down to $88.38 per barrel, while WTI fell to $82.13 per barrel.

Latest closeWTI crude $82.40 ▲1.4%|Brent $88.59 ▲1.8%

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