Afternoon Market Overview

The API started the weekly inventory report cycle with a surprise build in crude oil stocks but offset by larger than expected draws in both gasoline and distillate fuel inventories.

Total combined inventories of crude oil and products were modestly lower on the week. Overall the market was about the after the report was issued. The API reported US crude oil stocks increased by 1.1 million barrels on the week.

Cushing crude oil stocks decreased by 0.93 million barrels. They also reported a 1.9 million bbl draw in distillate fuel inventories and a 2.7 million bbl draw in gasoline stocks. Total combined inventories of crude oil and refined products were lower for the week and outside the range of market expectations also shown in the table above.

Crude oil stocks likely decreased even as refiner demand for crude oil decreased slightly while refined product inventories are projected to decline in this week’s report. Canadian imports into the US for the week ending April 13 increased by 141,000 bpd to 3.542mn bpd and are now 93,000 bpd below the previous all-time record-high reached early in 2017, per the U.S. Energy Information Agency.