The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 6.556 million barrels in the week ending March 13—a surprise build of significant magnitude. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories shed 1.7 million barrels. Gasoline inventories fell last week, shrinking by 4.6 million barrels in the week ending March 13. In the week prior, gasoline inventories fell by 1.8 million barrels.