Crude oil inventories in the United States rose this week by 1.837 million barrels for the week ending December 22, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API), after recording a 939,000-barrel build in crude inventories in the week prior.

API data shows a net build in crude oil inventories in the United States of just over 21 million barrels so far this year.

On Monday, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose by 800,000 barrels. Inventories are now at 353.3 million barrels, with total purchases for the SPR totaling more than 6 million barrels since the Biden Administration began its buyback program.

Oil prices were trading down ahead of API data release as the year draws close to the end. At 10:00 am ET, Brent crude was trading down 0.67% at $80.53—an increase of just over $1 per barrel compared to where it was this same time last week. The U.S. benchmark WTI was trading down on the day by 0.85% at that time, at $74.93–a decrease of nearly $5 per barrel compared to this time last week.

Source:Oilprice.com