EIA: US Crude Stockpiles Fall The Most In Nearly A Year

EIA: US Crude Stockpiles Fall The Most In Nearly A Year
US crude oil inventories fell for the seventh consecutive week in their largest drawdown in nearly a year.

Reuters

NEW YORK, Aug 16 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil inventories fell for the seventh consecutive week in their largest drawdown in nearly a year while exports and production continued to rise, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell 8.95 million barrels in the week to Aug. 11, nearly three times analysts' expectations for a decrease of 3.1 million barrels and the largest draw in since the week to Sept. 2.

At 466.5 million barrels, crude stockpiles were at their lowest since January 2016. Including emergency reserves, crude stocks were at 1.15 billion barrels, the lowest levels since October 2015, according to EIA data.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures rose 678,000 barrels, EIA said.

The report also had bearish elements, as 2.5 million barrels of the draw was on the West Coast, somewhat limiting the market impact of the drop, said David Thompson, executive vice-president at Powerhouse, an energy-specialized commodities broker in Washington.

After the data, crude futures extended gains but then turned negative, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 22 cents to $47.33 a barrel by 11:25 a.m. EDT (1525 GMT), after rising to $47.99. Brent crude futures were unchanged at $50.80 per barrel, after trading as high as $51.40 earlier in the session.

U.S. refinery crude runs fell by 9,000 barrels per day, as utilization rates slipped by 0.2 percentage point from 12-year highs to 96.1 percent of total capacity, EIA data showed.

Gasoline stocks were unchanged, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel drop.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 702,000 barrels, versus expectations for a drop of 572,000 barrels, the EIA data showed.

U.S. crude imports rose last week by 194,000 bpd.

U.S. crude production rose to 9.5 million bpd from 9.4 million bpd in the previous week. Crude oil exports also rose, jumping to 877,000 bpd from 707,000 bpd.

U.S. crude production has been closely watched by OPEC and other producers that have tried to stem a global supply glut.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries together with non-OPEC producers including Russia have pledged to restrict output by 1.8 bpd between January this year and March 2018.

U.S. output has filled part of that gap.


12

View Full Article

WHAT DO YOU THINK?


Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.


Most Popular Articles