Commercial crude oil inventories in the U.S. hit their highest since June 2021

U.S. crude oil inventories have risen by more than 0.5 million barrels over the past week, reaching 448.5 million barrels. The increase was due to a fall in fuel demand.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) data shows that crude inventories have risen almost two times lower than expected but have hit their highest levels since the summer of 2021.

However, some analysts consider that a failure to meet the forecasts might cause fears of supply shortages. For example, analyst at Price Futures Group Phil Flynn stated this opinion.

The total volume of supply, which represents fuel demand, was reduced by 867 thousand barrels per day (bpd) to the level of 19.4 million bpd. The average for the past four weeks decreased to 18.9 bpd, which is nearly 11% lower than last year’s level.

The increase in U.S. gasoline stocks has been around 1.8 million barrels over the week. The total volume is now 232 million barrels. Despite a decline in demand for distillates, their stocks decreased only by half a million to 115.3 million barrels.

The country’s strategic reserves (SPR) have remained unchanged.