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

Crude oil inventories in the US rose by about 347,000 bbls in the week that ended 16 August, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimates cited by Trading Economics.

PHOTO: Crude oil pumpjacks with the US flag in the background. Getty Images

This week’s gains “marks only the second build in the last eight weeks,” Trading Economics noted.

A rise in US crude stocks can dampen demand growth and reduce oil prices.

Oil market analysts expected a decline of 2.5 million bbls for the week ending 16 August. The latest API data was “mixed to bearish,” VANDA Insights’ founder and analyst Vandana Hari remarked.

Last week, the US-headquartered body reported a drop of 5.2 million 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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