Crude inventories in the United States showed an unexpected gain last week, which, together with other factors, contributed to pushing down oil prices.
For the week ending March 28, “U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 6.2 million barrels from the previous week,” the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in an April 2 report. This far exceeded market expectations.
“At 439.8 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4 percent below the five-year average for this time of year,” the EIA said.
Inventory buildup can happen due to a decline in demand, a jump in production, or other factors. Rising inventory signals oversupply in the market or that people are using less fuel than usual, which puts downward pressure on prices….