Fredericksburg Leader

OIL INVENTORIES PLUMMET AS REFINERS RAISE OUTPUT TO NEAR SEASONAL RECORDS, GASOLINE, DISTILLATE STOCKS RISE

Crude oil inventories decreased by 12.6 million barrels (MMbbl) to a total of 419.1 MMbbl. At 419.1 MMbbl, inventories are 12.6 MMbbl below last year (-2.9%) and are about 8% below the five-year average for this time of year. Inventories in Cushing, OK, the NYMEX delivery point, fell 0.4 million barrels to a total of 24.3 million barrels. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) decreased 1.4 million barrels from the prior week to 389.1 million barrels and stands 35.4% below the year ago level.

Domestic crude oil production was unchanged at 12.1 million barrels per day, 500,000 bpd higher than the year ago period. While Alaska oil production was down 3,000bpd to 445,000bpd, production in the Lower 48 was unchanged at 11.7 million barrels per day.

GASOLINE INVENTORIES:Gasoline inventories increased by 2.8 million barrels (MMbbl) to a total of 213.8 MMbbl. At 213.8 MMbbl, inventories are down 1.7 MMbbl, or 0.8% lower than a year ago and are 4% below the five-year average for this time of year.

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

East Coast (+2.1 MMbbl)Midwest (-0.3 MMbbl)Gulf Coast (+0.2 MMbbl)Rockies (-0.5 MMbbl)West Coast (+1.2 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 increased by 3.5 million barrels to a total of 112.6 MMbbl. At 112.6 MMbbl, inventories are down 11.2 MMbbl, or 9.1% lower vs. a year ago. Distillate inventories stand about 11% below the five-year average for this time of year.

IMPLIED GASOLINE DEMAND:Gasoline supplied to the market amounted to 8.32 million barrels per day (MMbpd), or 9,000 bpd lower than the previous week. So far in 2022, implied demand (“products supplied”) is 2.7% lower versus 2021, per the EIA.

REFINERY OUTPUT/UTILIZATION:Refinery utilization increased by 1.3 percentage points vs. last week’s numbers to reach 95.2%. Gasoline production increased to 9.4 million barrels per day while distillate fuel production increased to 5.3 million barrels per day last week.

Utilization rates for the last week were as follows:

East Coast: 101.0% (-1.9%)Midwest: 92.0% (+0.2%)Gulf Coast: 98.2% (+2.3%)Rocky Mountains: 88.0% (+0.7%)West Coast: 89.7% (+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 10.8 MMbbl (-0.9%) versus a year ago and stand at 1.211 billion barrels (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve). Including the SPR, total stocks are down 224.3 million barrels (-12.3%) versus a year ago.

IMPORTS/EXPORTS:The U.S. imported 6.04 MMbpd of crude oil per day last week, down by 1,027,000 bpd vs. the previous week, while crude oil exports rose by 706,000 bpd to 4.95 MMbpd. Total motor gasoline imports last week averaged 535,000 bpd. The U.S. also imported 152,000 bpd of distillate fuels. However, during the same timeframe, the U.S. exported 1,138,000 bpd of finished gasoline and 1,300,000 bpd of distillates. In total, U.S. companies exported 11.78 MMbpd of oil and petroleum products.

Before the report was released, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up $2.20 to $80.40 per barrel. Just after the report was released, oil was up $2.28 per barrel.

Original source can be found here