The EIA released the weekly crude oil inventories report today at 10:30am Eastern Time. Data show that inventories in the U.S. rose for the week ending May 20.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration compiles the data which measures the change in the number of barrels of crude oil held in inventory by commercial firms during the past week. EIA recorded an increase of 600,000 barrels to 370.90 million barrels last week, which is the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
Last weeks inventories indicated a change from the previous week before last when crude oil inventories were unchanged at 370.30 million barrels.
A breakdown of the data indicates that total motor gasoline inventories climbed up by 3.8 million barrels last week, after increasing by 100,000 barrels in the prior week, but are in the lower limit of the average range.
After release of the report, crude oil slightly dipped from $99.14 to $ 98.88 but soon recovered to move up, the main catalyst being an increase in risk appetite today, helped by upbeat German economic data as well as a burst of optimism brought by international debt inspectors returning to Athens to continue reviewing Greece’s progress toward meeting the terms of its initial 110 billion Euro EU/IMF bailout package.
