US crude oil stocks build

Oil

US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 600K bbls w-o-w to 493M bbls during the week ending April 16, building after stocks were previously drawn down for the past three consecutive weeks, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Despite remaining at around 1% above the five-year average for this time of year this is a decline of 25.6M bbls y-o-y, after stocks began to surge during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year. Total motor gasoline inventories also rose by 100K bbls w-o-w to a seven-week high of 235M bbls. Crude oil imports decreased by 450K b/d w-o-w to 5.41M b/d, with exports edging down by 30K b/d w-o-w to 2.55M b/d, a four-week low. Refinery throughputs fell by 290K b/d w-o-w to average 14.8M b/d after previously reaching the highest level since the week ending March 20 2020.