WTI oil futures open Thursday’s trading session at $101 a barrel after yesterday’s weekly data from the US Department of Energy reported that US crude oil stocks rose last week had by 1.3 million barrels, surprising analysts, who expected another fall.<\/p>\n
Latest WTI Oil Price<\/strong><\/p>\n US Light crude oil futures for January 2012 delivery was traading at $100.75 a barrel, 07.45 GMT this morning in electronic trading on the NYMEX.<\/p>\n The US oil futures contract closed Wednesday’s session at $100.49 a barrel, or 0.6 percent lower after the EIA report was released.<\/p>\n US Crude Oil Stocks<\/strong><\/p>\n Crude oil and gasoline inventories in the US moved up during the week ended 2nd December, official EIA data showed Wednesday.<\/p>\n The US EIA (Energy Information Administration) in its weekly crude oil report said US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 1.30 million barrels to 336.10 million barrels last week, and are in the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.<\/p>\n Analysts were expecting crude oil inventories to dip by 1.25 million barrels, while gasoline stocks seen rising by 875,000 barrels last week.<\/p>\n I\u2019m surprised by the big build to that extent.” said James Zhang, oil analyst at Standard Bank.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, American crude oil inventories declined 5.04 million barrels to 334.1 million last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute.<\/p>\n The US API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The US government requires that reports be filed with the Energy Department for its weekly survey.<\/p>\n