US Crude Reserves Surge by 17.4 Million Barrels

The EIA figures, released Wednesday, significantly eclipsed the 9.072 million barrel increase previously estimated by the American Petroleum Institute. Following the report, Brent futures dropped $0.39 to $88.52 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate slipped $0.44 to $82.76. Despite the daily dip, both benchmarks maintain a strong weekly gain of roughly $7.50 to $9 per barrel.

Downstream data provided a more mixed picture for fuel demand. Gasoline inventories contracted by 1.0 million barrels as daily production cooled to 9.6 million barrels. Simultaneously, middle distillate stockpiles fell by 100,000 barrels, leaving them 12% below the five-year average. Overall demand, measured by total products supplied, averaged 20.7 million barrels per day over the last four weeks—a 2.1% decline compared to the same period last year.