US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 17.4 million barrels to 424.4 mmbbls in the week ended Aug. 7, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report on Wednesday.
Crude inventories were about 2% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.
The larger-than-expected build is above Investing.com's estimate of a 1.7-mmbbl draw for the week ended Aug. 7.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday set aside a Biden-era rule imposing energy-efficiency standards on consumer cooking appliances, ruling the US Energy Department improperly retained the measure after adverse comments.The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted a petition from Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, which challenged the Department of Energy's Direct Final Rule for stoves and cooktops.The DOE issued the rule in February 2024 under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, setting limits on annual appliance energy use and banning linear power supplies in covered products.The court said the DOE improperly used a direct final rule despite opposition to similar standards from numerous states.The court said the Department failed to account for whether the standard's increased complexity could reduce reliability or increase associated costs.Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham said the Energy Department should not have fast-tracked the rule after knowing numerous states opposed a similar 2023 effort to impose efficiency standards.Oldham also criticized the Biden administration's approach to the rule, saying it could make home appliances "more expensive and less useful," while noting that direct final rules typically address uncontroversial matters.The US Department of Energy did not immediately reply to' request for comment.
US natural gas futures extended losses in after-hours trade on Tuesday from a two-week high after the US Energy Information Administration forecast that storage inventories would reach their highest level in a decade before the official start of winter.The front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous contract both declined by 1.65% to $2.748 per million British thermal units.Prices gave up early gains after the EIA projected US natural gas inventories would reach 3,985 billion cubic feet by the end of October, the highest level in 10 years and 5% above the five-year average.The projected inventory surplus reflects strong domestic production and some reduction in LNG feedgas demand because of maintenance at export terminals, the EIA said.The agency also lowered its forecast for the Henry Hub spot price, saying it expects prices to average $2.87/MMBtu in the third quarter of 2026, down 50 cents from its July Short-Term Energy Outlook. The lower forecast reflects reduced LNG feedgas demand and robust natural gas production.The EIA expects prices to remain below $3/MMBtu in the coming months as near-record storage levels weigh on the market heading into October.Price action farther out on the futures curve was largely flat, reflecting little change in the broader market outlook, the Energy Buyers' Guide said. Nearby contracts have recovered somewhat from last week's lows, but ample inventories and strong domestic production continue to cap upside, it said.Near-term weather forecasts offered additional support to prices. The Commodity Weather Group said Tuesday that above-normal temperatures are expected across the southern US from Aug. 16-20, potentially boosting demand for natural gas used to generate electricity for air conditioning.Natural gas prices also continued to factor in the news that Energy Transfer said the Hugh Brinson pipeline would be able to operate at its full transportation capacity of 1.5 billion cubic feet per day by Sept. 1. The expanded capacity will allow more gas to flow from the Permian Basin to the US benchmark Henry Hub in Erath, Louisiana, adding to already strong domestic supply.US natural gas production remained robust at about 112 Bcf/d, up 2.3% from the same period last year, Barchart said, citing BNEF data.Domestic demand stood at 82.3 Bcf/d on Tuesday, slightly below year-earlier levels, while LNG feedgas flows were steady at 17.6 Bcf/d, down 1.3% from last week.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute revealed Tuesday that US crude oil inventories increased by 9.07 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 7, following a 2.69-mmbbl increase the previous week, and compared with analysts' estimate of a 500,000-bbl decline, according to a Bloomberg-compiled survey.The oil market now awaits the US Energy Information Administration's petroleum inventory report, scheduled for release on Wednesday.