U.S. Crude Oil, Gasoline Inventories Boom

Crude oil inventories in the United States rose this week, by 7.168 million barrels for the week ending February 16, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API), after analysts predicted a build of 4.298 million barrels. The API reported an 8.52-million-barrel rise in crude inventories in the week prior. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose by 0.7 million barrels as of February 16. Inventories are now at 359.5 million barrels—the highest level…