The nation’s oil watchers had a surprise waiting for them, one that sent crude prices falling on Wednesday.
It came in the form of a surprise buildup of crude oil supplies across the U.S. while just the opposite happened at the Cushing Hub, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The U.S. crude supply increased by more than a million barrels, going from 420.6 million arrels on January 19 to 421.9 million barrels as of January 26. Stocks had dropped from 429.9 million on Jan. 12.
Cushing’s supply fell 2 million barrels. It totaled 30.1 million barrels on January 19 but dropped to 28.1 million a week later. At the beginning of January, Cushing held 34.2 million barrels of crude oil.