Fredericksburg Leader

GasBuddy issued the following announcement on Jan. 26

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly report today on the status of petroleum inventories in the United States. Here are some highlights:

CRUDE OIL INVENTORIES:

Crude oil inventories increased by 2.4 million barrels (MMbbl) to a total of 416.2 MMbbl. At 416.2 MMbbl, inventories are 60.5 MMbbl below last year (12.7%) and are about 8% below the five-year average for this time of year. Inventories in Cushing, OK, the NYMEX delivery point, fell 1.8 million barrels to a total of 31.7 million barrels. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) decreased 1.3 million barrels from the prior week to 590.8 million barrels and stands 7.4% below the year ago level.

CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION:

Domestic crude oil production fell 100,000 barrels per day to 11.6 million barrels per day, 700,000 bpd higher than the year ago period. While Alaska oil production fell 6,000 bpd to 449,000bpd, production in the Lower 48 was unchanged at 11.2 million barrels per day.

GASOLINE INVENTORIES:

Gasoline inventories increased by 1.3 million barrels (MMbbl) to a total of 247.9 MMbbl. At 247.9 MMbbl, inventories are up 0.2 MMbbl, or 0.1% higher than a year ago and are 2% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Here’s how individual regions and their gasoline inventory fared:

East Coast (-0.1 MMbbl)

Midwest (+0.9 MMbbl)

Gulf Coast (-0.4 MMbbl)

Rockies (+0.1 MMbbl)

West Coast (+0.9 MMbbl)

It’s important to note which regions saw increases/decreases as this information likely drives prices up (in the case of falling inventories) or down (in the case of rising inventories).

DISTILLATE (DIESEL, HEATING OIL) INVENTORIES:

Distillate inventories decreased by 2.8 million barrels to a total of 125.2 MMbbl. At 125.2 MMbbl, inventories are down 37.7 MMbbl, or 23.1% lower vs. a year ago. Distillate inventories stand about 17% below the five-year average for this time of year.

IMPLIED GASOLINE DEMAND:

Gasoline supplied to the market amounted to 8.51 million barrels per day (MMbpd), or 281,000 bpd higher than the previous week. So far in 2022, implied demand (“products supplied”) is 5.1% higher versus 2021, per the EIA.

REFINERY OUTPUT/UTILIZATION:

Refinery utilization decreased by 0.4 percentage points vs. last week’s numbers to reach 87.7%. Gasoline production increased to 8.9 million barrels per day while distillate fuel production increased to 4.8 million barrels per day last week.

Utilization rates for the last week were as follows:

East Coast: 87.3% (-1.5%)

Midwest: 94.1% (+0.1%)

Gulf Coast: 86.9% (-0.8%)

Rocky Mountains: 90.9% (+3.7%)

West Coast: 79.9% (-0.4%)

These percentages show how much of a region’s overall capacity was used to refine oil. It’s important to note these percentages, because the lower the utilization percent, the lower output — which has a direct impact on local gasoline prices. If refiners in your region have low output, you’re more likely to see gas prices rise.

OVERALL SUPPLY:

Total oil stocks in the United States are down by 137.2 MMbbl (-10.4%) versus a year ago and stand at 1.185 billion barrels (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve).

IMPORTS/EXPORTS:

The U.S. imported 6.24 MMbpd of crude oil per day last week, down by 509,000 bpd vs. the previous week, while crude oil exports rose by 186,000 bpd to 2.80 MMbpd. Total motor gasoline imports last week averaged 314,000 bpd. The U.S. also imported 226,000 bpd of distillate fuels. However, during the same timeframe, the U.S. exported 412,000 bpd of finished gasoline and 627,000 bpd of distillates. In total, U.S. companies exported 6.73 MMbpd of oil and petroleum products.

Before the report was released, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up $1.45 to $87.05 per barrel. Just after the report was released, oil was up $1.32 per barrel.

Original source can be found here.