Unexpected Increase in Crude Oil Inventories

In a surprising turn of events, commercial crude oil inventories in the United States, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), increased by 500,000 barrels to 442.9 million barrels for the week ending April 11, as reported by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.

Refinery Operations Slow Down

Oil refinery inputs saw a decrease, averaging 15.6 million barrels per day (bpd), down by 64,000 bpd from the previous week. Refineries were operating at 86.3% of their capacity. Despite the slowdown, gasoline production showed an upward trend, averaging 9.4 million bpd.

Changes in Crude Oil Imports and Petroleum Inventories

Crude oil imports decreased by 189,000 bpd week-on-week, averaging 6 million bpd. In contrast, total commercial petroleum inventories experienced a decline of 2.1 million barrels last week.