US inventories: The invisible barrel paradox as Brent soars

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 3.719 million barrels in the week ending April 3. In the previous week, U.S. crude oil inventories had increased by 10.263 million barrels. Analysts had expected a decline of 1.598 million barrels.

Inventories in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) declined for the second consecutive week after a sustained, year-long influx of barrels into the national stockpile. In the week ending April 3, 1.8 million barrels left the SPR, bringing the new total to 413.3 million barrels . This is 312.2 million barrels below maximum capacity. Here's a chart showing the evolution of API inventories:

U.S. crude production remained unchanged at 13.657 million barrels per day for the week ending March 27, after declining by 78,000 barrels over the previous five weeks, according to the latest EIA data. This represents an increase of 77,000 barrels per day compared to the same period last year.

At 4:24 PM ET, moments before the data was released, Brent crude was down for the day at $105.50. This was similar to the previous week, as tanker traffic disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, oil production losses in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia continued, and physical prices per barrel reached an all-time high. WTI was also down for the day, down $0.29 a barrel (-0.26%) at $112.10, though up $10 a barrel from the previous week.

While crude oil inventories increased, petroleum product inventories decreased.

Gasoline inventories decreased this week by 4 million barrels in the week ending April 3. The previous week, gasoline inventories had decreased by 3.209 million barrels. According to the latest EIA data , gasoline inventories at the end of last week were 4% above the five-year average for this time of year.

Distillate inventories also fell by 600,000 barrels, after losing 1.04 million barrels the previous week. Distillate inventories were 3% below the five-year average as of the week ending March 27, the latest EIA data show.

Cushing inventories — the stockpile held at the delivery hub for the West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract — fell by 600,000 barrels, after rising by 784,000 barrels the previous week.

So, in theory, crude oil inventories in the US are increasing, but this doesn't go to the refinery. Evidently, someone is expecting higher prices and is hoarding crude oil. Or these barrels are virtual. What's the truth of the matter?

The article US inventories: the paradox of invisible barrels as Brent soars comes from Scenari Economici .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/scorte-usa-il-paradosso-dei-barili-invisibili-mentre-il-brent-punta-alle-stelle/ on Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:00:44 +0000.