API reports a big drop in US crude stocks – Trading Economics

Commercial US crude inventories declined by 5.2 million bbls in the week ended 5 January, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API) data cited by Trading Economics.

PHOTO: An oil refinery installation in Southern California, adorned with a US flag. Getty Images

Meanwhile, oil market analysts project a much smaller draw of 1.2 million bbls.

“The API reported overnight that US crude oil inventories fell by 5.2m barrels [5.2 million bbls], which is larger than the market was expecting,” said two analysts from ING Bank.

Last week, the US-headquartered industry body reported a massive drop of 7.4 million bbls in the US crude oil inventories in its Weekly Statistical Bulletin that tracks crude stock builds in the US. However, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) official data that came out later showed that crude oil stocks declined by 5.50 million bbls.

The broadly followed US government data on crude oil stockpiles from the EIA is due later today.

By Aparupa Mazumder 

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