Despite the sharp increase in crude oil inventories, oil prices have continued to rise

According to the oil price network reported on April 12, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that crude oil production unexpectedly increased by 7.
757 million barrels this week, higher than the 1.
367 million barrels forecast by analysts
.

U.
S.
crude inventories have fallen by about 72 million barrels since the beginning of 2021 and by about 14 million barrels
since the beginning of 2020.

The week before, API reported a 1.
08 million barrel increase in crude inventories, after analysts expected inventories to fall by 15.
58 million barrels
.

Oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday for a number of reasons, including OPEC's blunt warning
to the European Union.

West Texas Intermediate rose 6.
54 percent to $100.
50 a barrel at 3:48 p.
m.
on Wednesday, down $0.
30 a barrel for the week
.
Brent crude rose 6.
10% on the day to $104.
50 a barrel, after falling $1 last week
.

U.
S.
crude oil production rose to 11.
8 million barrels per day in the week ended April 1, the second increase
after months of stagnation.
U.
S.
crude oil production is still down 1.
3 million b/d
from pre-pandemic levels.

This week, the American Petroleum Industry Association (API) reported that gasoline inventories fell to 5.
053 million barrels in the week ended April 8, compared with 543,000 barrels
the week before.

Distillate inventories fell by 4.
961 million barrels this week after rising by 593,000 barrels
last week.

Cushing increased production by 375,000 barrels
this week.
According to EIA data, Cushing inventories rose to 25.
887 million barrels as of April 1, down from 59.
2 million barrels at the beginning of 2021 and down from 37.
3 million barrels
at the end of 2021.

At 4:36 p.
m.
ET, West Texas Intermediate was trading at $100.
70 (+6.
81%) and Brent crude at $104.
80 (+6.
37%)
.