A maze of crude oil pipe and equipment is seen with the American and Texas flags flying in the background during a tour by the Department of Energy at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas, U.S. June 9, 2016. REUTERS/Richard Carson/File Photo
U.S. crude stocks surge on strategic reserve release
April 13 (Reuters) – U.S. crude stocks surged by more than 9 million barrels, in part due to releases from the nation’s strategic reserves, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories (USOILC=ECI) rose by 9.4 million barrels in the week to April 8 to 421.8 million barrels, far surpassing analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for an 863,000-barrel rise. Commercial stocks could keep rising in coming weeks as the United States is steadily releasing barrels from its strategic reserves to offset the expected shortfall from Russian exports.
“The sizable crude oil inventory rise is probably the number one thing,
