Total domestic petroleum stockpiles increased in the final week of January while demand declined amid lighter needs for transportation fuels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) showed.

Demand has proven choppy week/week over the last several months, but it has consistently been well below year-earlier, pre-coronavirus levels because of travel restrictions and generally lower mobility levels amid the ongoing pandemic.

Domestic commercial crude inventories for the week ended Jan. 29, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 1.0 million bbl from the previous week. At 475.7 million bbl, EIA said, oil inventories were 4% above the five-year average.

Demand, meanwhile, fell 6% week/week for the latest...