A surprise buildup of U.S. crude stocks resulted Wednesday in an extension of the losses crude oil prices recorded a day earlier.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that nationally, crude stocks increased 1.8 million barrels from the 457 million barrels in storage as of May 10 to the 458.8 million barrels reported May 17, 2024.
The Cushing Hub in northern Oklahoma saw a gain of 1.3 million barrels of crude oil. The hub increased from the 35 million barrels recorded on May 10 to reach 36.3 million barrels a week later.
A year ago, the U.S. crude stocks totaled 455.2 million barrels, inccluding 37.2 million barrels at the Cushing Hub.
Analysts were wrong in their prediction of an expected drop in crude stocks. Instead, the amount of crude oil in storage increased for the first time this month.