US crude storage levels have remained relatively stable this year, after rising slightly over the past week, according to figures released by The American Petroleum Institute (API).

The body, the largest American trade association for the oil and gas industry, reported that crude levels rose by 347,000 barrels for the week ending August 16, as part of a survey oil storage facilities and companies.

However, in the previous week, the organisation reported a fall in stocks of 5.2m barrels.

In terms of the year so far, US crude oil levels have increased by 760,000 barrels, almost level with the start of the year.

However, gasoline stocks fell by more than one million barrels during the past week.

At the end of last week, the US’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose by almost a million barrels, reaching 377m barrels, as the country tries to rebuild stocks that have been depleted over recent years.

The SPR, which has a maximum storage capacity of 714 million barrels, is the world’s biggest supply of emergency crude oil, originally established to reduce the impact of disruptions in supplies of petroleum products.

In March 2022, President Joe Biden announced that 180 million barrels of crude from the reserve would be sold over six months – the largest SPR sale in history – to combat soaring energy prices in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.