The American Petroleum Institute API estimated that crude oil inventories in the United fell by 4.022 million barrels for the week ending January 3. Analysts had expected a 250,000 barrel draw. For the week prior, the API reported a draw of 1.442-million-barrel in U.S. crude oil inventories in the midst of build season. In 2024, crude oil inventories dropped by more than 12 million barrels, according to the API’s inventory data.
The U.S. benchmark WTI was also trading up on the day by $0.70 0.95% at $74.26—just pennies from this same week last year. Gasoline inventories rose this week by 7.331 million barrels after last week’s 2.163-million-barrel increase. As of last week, gasoline inventories are slightly above the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data. Distillate inventories rose by 3.201 million barrels, after last week’s large 5.719-million-barrel increase.