Crude Oil Inventory Increase Offset by Continued Product Inventory Declines

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 4.593 million barrels for the week ending March 14. Analysts had expected a smaller 1.7 million-barrel build. So far this year, crude oil inventories have climbed more than 21 million barrels, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) climbed 0.3 million barrels again to 395.9 million barrels in the week ending…