US DATA: API reports 4 ml/b build in crude stocks, products lower

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – US crude oil inventories posted an above-expectations increase for the week ending 12 April, while gasoline and distillate stockpiles registered declines, according to a report released late Tuesday by the industry-backed American Petroleum Institute (API).

The latest API data showed crude inventories added 4.09 million barrels, which was slightly above expectations flagged prior to the release of the report, coming after the official government figures from the EIA last week put crude stocks at a one-year high in early April.

The key Cushing storage hub, the delivery point for the NYMEX WTI futures contract, eased by a modest 169,000 barrels, although the broader trend has been for higher stocks over the previous two months.

Inventories at Cushing now stand at around 33 million barrels, having dipped to a 2024 low of around 28 million barrels in late January before rebounding during February and March.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve added another 700,000 barrels as the low-scale buyback program continued after the Department of Energy released 180 million barrels from the SPR in 2022.

Restocking has generally been limited to around 3 million barrels per month after the DOE said logistics would limit throughputs. This figure is expected to continue over the short term based on oil already purchased, but the Department of Energy said early April it would pause its buyback programme due to rising crude prices.

Meanwhile, gasoline stockpiles dropped another 2.51 million barrels, while distillates fell 427,000 barrels for an overall net oil build of 1.153 million barrels, according to API calculations.

The 3-2-1 crack spread, a measure of US refining profitability against gasoline and heating oil margins, was pegged at $30.70/b based on May24 futures contracts early Wednesday, with refined products slightly outpacing crude prices over the past week.

According to the latest exchanged data, investors added another 7.7k long RBOB contracts last week, with bullish bets above 100k contracts for the first time since February 2020.

And they rebuilt net long positions on diesel, reaching a three-week high of 9.1k contracts on NYMEX heating oil (ULSD).