The American Petroleum Institute estimated that US crude oil inventories declined by 2.09 million barrels in the week ending October 2, according to data cited by Oilprice. The weekly figures from the API are closely followed by market participants as an early indicator of the direction of American crude supply, ahead of official government statistics.
The draw marked a reversal from the previous week, when US crude oil inventories grew by 1.019 million barrels. Taken together, the two weekly prints suggest a broadly flat picture in the near term, with a modest build followed by a somewhat larger withdrawal.
The longer-term trend shows a more sustained tightening. Commercial crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, have lost more than 38 million barrels over the last 25 weeks, according to API data. Despite that extended stretch of draws, total US crude inventories remain up nearly 13 million barrels for the year.
That year-to-date surplus has been kept in check in part thanks to releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. For the week ending October 2, another 800,000 barrels left the SPR, continuing the pattern of government stock withdrawals offsetting builds elsewhere in the system. This means that the commercial inventory drawdown over the past 25 weeks reflects a steeper reduction in oil held by industry than the headline total figures indicate.
For engineers and operators across the US oil value chain, the API's weekly estimates serve as a recurring gauge of how storage levels are evolving at hubs and terminals. A continued pattern of commercial draws alongside ongoing SPR releases would indicate that the apparent surplus built earlier in the year is being absorbed, with the split between commercial stocks and government reserves remaining a key detail to watch in the weeks ahead.
Source: Oilprice
