, according to The American Petroleum Institute API, after analysts predicted a build of 2.6 million barrels. The API reported a 674,000-barrel rise in crude inventories in the week prior. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy DoE reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve SPR rose by 0.8 million barrels as of February 9. Inventories are now at 358.8 million barrels.
benchmark WTI was trading up on the day by 1.08% at $77.75, also up $4 per barrel compared to this time last week. Gasoline inventories saw a significant drawdown this week, falling by 7.23 million barrels, more than offsetting the 3.652 million barrels rise in the week prior. As of last week, gasoline inventories were about 1% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data. Distillate inventories also fell this week, by 4.