API reports a surprise build in US crude stocks – Trading Economics

Crude oil inventories in the US surged by 4.7 million bbls in the week that ended 15 November, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimates cited by Trading Economics.

PHOTO: An oil pumpjack with the US flag in the background. Getty Images

The latest data marked the “fourth week of built in the past twelve weeks,” Trading Economics noted citing numbers from the API.

The weekly inventory build was much higher than market expectations of an 800,000-bbl rise during the week.

A rise in US crude stocks indicates weakness in oil demand, which can put downward pressure on Brent’s price. “The American Petroleum Institute’s latest weekly US oil stocks report was bearish,” VANDA Insights’ founder and analyst Vandana Hari remarked.

Last week, the US-headquartered energy body reported a drop of 770,000 bbls in US crude oil inventories in its Weekly Statistical Bulletin that tracks crude stock builds in the US.

The broadly followed US government data on crude oil stockpiles from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due later today.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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