Fredericksburg Leader

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 decreased by 1.4 million barrels (MMbbl) to a total of 429.2 MMbbl. At 429.2 MMbbl, inventories are 8.3 MMbbl above last year (2.0%) and are about 3% below the five-year average for this time of year. Inventories in Cushing, OK, the NYMEX delivery point, rose 0.3 million barrels to a total of 26.0 million barrels. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) decreased 6.2 million barrels from the prior week to 416.4 million barrels and stands 32.6% below the year ago level.

Domestic crude oil production was unchanged at 12.0 million barrels per day, 700,000 bpd higher than the year ago period. While Alaska oil production rose 2,000bpd to 435,000bpd, production in the Lower 48 was unchanged at 11.6 million barrels per day.

GASOLINE INVENTORIES:

Gasoline inventories decreased by 4.7 million barrels (MMbbl) to a total of 207.5 MMbbl. At 207.5 MMbbl, inventories are down 17.6 MMbbl, or 7.8% lower than a year ago and are 9% below the five-year average for this time of year.

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

East Coast (-1.0 MMbbl)

Midwest (+0.3 MMbbl)

Gulf Coast (-3.8 MMbbl)

Rockies (-0.1 MMbbl)

West Coast (-0.2 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 3.4 million barrels to a total of 110.9 MMbbl. At 110.9 MMbbl, inventories are down 18.4 MMbbl, or 14.2% lower vs. a year ago. Distillate inventories stand about 21% below the five-year average for this time of year.

IMPLIED GASOLINE DEMAND:

Gasoline supplied to the market amounted to 9.47 million barrels per day (MMbpd), or 640,000 bpd higher than the previous week. So far in 2022, implied demand (“products supplied”) is 1.7% lower versus 2021, per the EIA.

REFINERY OUTPUT/UTILIZATION:

Refinery utilization increased by 0.7 percentage points vs. last week’s numbers to reach 91.3%. Gasoline production increased to 10.0 million barrels per day while distillate fuel production increased to 5.2 million barrels per day last week.

Utilization rates for the last week were as follows:

East Coast: 85.9% (-3.5%)

Midwest: 91.2% (+1.9%)

Gulf Coast: 94.0% (+0.3%)

Rocky Mountains: 92.1% (+2.1%)

West Coast: 83.3% (+1.0%)

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 (excluding the SPR) are down by 12.8 MMbbl (1.0%) versus a year ago and stand at 1.221 billion barrels (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve). Including the SPR, total stocks are down 214.2 million barrels (-11.6%) versus a year ago.

IMPORTS/EXPORTS:

The U.S. imported 5.95 MMbpd of crude oil per day last week, down by 502,000 bpd vs. the previous week, while crude oil exports fell by 95,000 bpd to 4.55 MMbpd. Total motor gasoline imports last week averaged 480,000 bpd. The U.S. also imported 81,000 bpd of distillate fuels. However, during the same timeframe, the U.S. exported 796,000 bpd of finished gasoline and 1,656,000 bpd of distillates. In total, U.S. companies exported 10.6 MMbpd of oil and petroleum products.

Before the report was released, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 6 cents to $86.46 per barrel. Just after the report was released, oil was up 31 cents per barrel.

Original source can be found here.