According to the American Petroleum Institute’s report on Tuesday, U.S. crude stockpiles surprisingly increased last week, contributing to anxieties about the energy demand outlook amidst fears of a global slowdown.
After settling up 2.1% at $85.57 a barrel, Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $81.48 a barrel following the report.
The API disclosed that U.S. crude oil inventories grew by 377,000 barrels in the week ending on April 7, contrary to expectations for a 1.3 million barrel decline. The API had reported a 4.3 million barrel drop in the week prior to March 31.
Besides the overall inventory of crude oil, the API also reported a 1.4 million barrel shortage at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude.
Gasoline inventories increased by 450,000 barrels last week, while distillate stocks declined by 2 million barrels, as per the API report. The API’s data frequently serves as a preliminary indicator of official inventory data, which is anticipated from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
Despite apprehensions about the energy demand outlook lingering due to concerns about a slowdown in global growth, crude prices rose significantly on Tuesday. On the same day, the International Monetary Fund reduced its prediction for global real GDP growth to 2.8% for 2023 and 3.0% for 2024.
Analysts monitored by Investing.com expect the EIA to report a crude stockpile drop of 583,000 barrels for the week ending April 7.
