The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a build of 11.6 million barrels in United States crude inventories against expert predictions that domestic supplies would see a much kinder 1.4-million-to 1.66-million-barrel build.
The build in crude oil inventories was almost 10 times what analysts had predicted and marks yet another new high in U.S. inventories. The chart below displays a 10-week cumulative build of 35 million barrels, per API data, since the beginning of the year.
A few hours before the API data release, WTI and Brent benchmarks were both down despite Libya’s recent production woes, which were offset by Russia’s.