The latest report shows that crude inventories saw a larger-than-expected increase of 4 million barrels.

On September 13, the EIA issued its weekly report on petroleum status, revealing a 4 million barrel increase in crude inventories from the previous week. This exceeded the analyst consensus of a decrease of 1.9 million barrels. Current crude inventories are approximately 2% below the five-year average for this time of year.

The surge in crude inventories was primarily driven by significant growth in crude oil imports, which averaged 7.6 million barrels per day. Motor gasoline inventories witnessed a growth of 5.6 million barrels, while distillate fuel inventories increased by 3.9 million barrels.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve expanded from 350.3 million barrels to 350.6 million barrels. Despite rising oil prices, the U.S. continued its oil purchases for its strategic reserves.

In response to the robust rally in the oil markets, domestic oil production climbed from 12.8 million barrels per day to 12.9 million barrels per day.

WTI oil settled near the $89.00 level as traders reacted to the EIA report, while Brent oil traded above the $92.00 level.

Alongside the EIA report, traders also had the opportunity to review the IEA report, which highlighted tight oil markets due to production cuts by OPEC+. The IEA predicts a 2.2 million barrel per day growth in world oil demand in 2023, reaching a historic high of 102.2 million barrels per day. This bullish forecast contributes to the positive outlook for oil prices.