USA Crude Oil Inventories Drop WoW

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), decreased by 0.9 million barrels from the week ending December 6 to the week ending December 13, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted in its latest weekly petroleum status report.

The report, which was released on December 18 and included data for the week ending December 13, showed that crude oil stocks, not including the SPR, stood at 421.0 million barrels on December 13, 422.0 million barrels on December 6, and 443.7 million barrels on December 15, 2023. The EIA report highlighted that data may not add up to totals due to independent rounding.

Crude oil in the SPR stood at 393.1 million barrels on December 13, 392.5 million barrels on December 6, and 352.5 million barrels on December 15, 2023, according to the report. Total petroleum stocks - including crude oil, total motor gasoline, fuel ethanol, kerosene type jet fuel, distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, propane/propylene, and other oils - stood at 1.626 billion barrels on December 13, the report revealed. This figure was down 2.7 million barrels week on week and up 12.2 million barrels year on year, the report outlined.

“At 421.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about six percent below the five year average for this time of year,” the EIA said in its latest weekly petroleum status report.

“Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 2.3 million barrels from last week and are about three percent below the five year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories decreased while blending components inventories increased last week,” it added.

“Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 3.2 million barrels last week and are about seven percent below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories decreased by 3.0 million barrels from last week and are seven percent above the five year average for this time of year,” it continued.

The EIA noted in the report that U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.6 million barrels per day during the week ending December 13. It pointed out that this was 48,000 barrels per day less than the previous week’s average.

“Refineries operated at 91.8 percent of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging 9.9 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production decreased last week, averaging 5.1 million barrels per day,” the EIA said in the report.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.6 million barrels per day last week, according to the report, which highlighted that this was an increase of 665,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

“Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.5 million barrels per day, 2.1 percent less than the same four-week period last year,” the EIA stated in the report.

“Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 755,000 barrels per day, and distillate fuel imports averaged 164,000 barrels per day,” it added.

Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.4 million barrels a day, up by 1.3 percent from the same period last year, the EIA said in the report.

“Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.7 million barrels a day, up by 2.1 percent from the same period last year,” it highlighted.

“Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 3.8 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, up by 4.8 percent from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied was up 11.6 percent compared with the same four-week period last year,” it went on to state.

In a Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) report sent to Rigzone on Friday by Ole R. Hvalbye, a commodities analyst at the company, Hvalbye highlighted that “crude prices briefly rose following reports of continued declines in U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excl. SPR), which fell by 0.9 million barrels last week to 421.0 million barrels”.

“This level is approximately six percent below the five-year average for this time of year, highlighting persistently tight market conditions,” he added in the report.

“Despite the ongoing drawdowns in U.S. crude and product inventories, global oil prices have remained range-bound since mid-October,” Hvalbye went on to state.

The SEB analyst noted in the report that market participants are balancing a muted outlook for Chinese demand and rising production from non-OPEC+ sources against elevated geopolitical risks.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com