Oil Wobbles After API Reports Crude, Gasoline Build

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a build in crude oil inventory of 6.86 million barrels for the week ending April 19, coming in over analyst expectations of a 167,000-barrel drawdown.Last week, the API reported a draw in crude oil of 3.096 million barrels.

A day later, the EIA confirmed the draw with a report of a 1.4-million-barrel drop in inventory. Including this week’s data, the net build is now 11.30 million barrels for the 17-week reporting period so far this year, using API data.

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Oil prices ticked higher on Tuesday as the United States announced that it would not be extending any of the waivers that it had previously granted purchasers of Iranian oil.WTI was trading up on Tuesday before the data release at $66.15, up $0.60 (+0.92%) on the day at 1:03pm, also up week on week by more than $2 per barrel. The Brent benchmark was also trading up on the day at $74.21, up $0.17 (+0.23%) at that time.

The Brent benchmark was up week on week by almost $3 per barrel.The API this week reported a draw in gasoline inventories as well for week ending April 19 in the amount of 1.82 million barrels. Analysts estimated a draw in gasoline inventories of 333,000 barrels for the week.Despite the bearish crude and gasoline builds, the API did, however, report a small draw to the amount of 865,000 barrels, largely in line with analyst predictions of 712,000 barrels.

The Cushing storage hub in Oklahoma saw a draw of almost 390,000 barrels according to the API.US crude oil production as estimated by the Energy Information Administration showed that production for the week ending April 12—the latest information available—came in just off its all-time high, at 12.1 million bpd.The U.S. Energy Information Administration report on crude oil inventories is due to be released on Wednesday at 10:30a.m. EST.By 4:42pm EST, WTI was trading up at $66.33 and Brent was trading up at $74.50.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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