Fredericksburg Leader

ROCKIES REFINERIES STRUGGLE, OIL AND GASOLINE INVENTORIES RISE

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 8.4 million barrels (MMbbl) to a total of 448.0 MMbbl. At 448.0 MMbbl, inventories are 34.2 MMbbl above last year (8.3%) and are about 3% above the five-year average for this time of year. Inventories in Cushing, OK, the NYMEX delivery point, rose 3.6 million barrels to a total of 31.4 million barrels. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) was unchanged from the prior week and stands at 371.6 million barrels and stands 37.2% below the year ago level.

Domestic crude oil production was unchanged at 12.2 million barrels per day, 500,000 bpd higher than the year ago period. While Alaska oil production was up 5,000bpd to 453,000bpd, production in the Lower 48 fell 100,000bpd to 11.7 million barrels per day.

GASOLINE INVENTORIES:Gasoline inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels (MMbbl) to a total of 230.3 MMbbl. At 230.3 MMbbl, inventories are down 16.4 MMbbl, or 6.6% lower than a year ago and are 8% below the five-year average for this time of year.

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

East Coast (-0.4 MMbbl)Midwest (-0.6 MMbbl)Gulf Coast (+4.4 MMbbl)Rockies (-0.2 MMbbl)West Coast (+0.3 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 1.9 million barrels to a total of 115.8 MMbbl. At 115.8 MMbbl, inventories are down 12.2 MMbbl, or 9.5% lower vs. a year ago. Distillate inventories stand about 20% below the five-year average for this time of year.

IMPLIED GASOLINE DEMAND:Gasoline supplied to the market amounted to 8.05 million barrels per day (MMbpd), or 496,000 bpd higher than the previous week. So far in 2023, implied gasoline demand (“products supplied”) is 2.8% lower versus 2022, per the EIA.

REFINERY OUTPUT/UTILIZATION:Refinery utilization increased by 1.2 percentage points vs. last week’s numbers to reach 85.3%. Gasoline production increased to 8.9 million barrels per day while distillate fuel production increased to 4.6 million barrels per day last week.

Utilization rates for the last week were as follows:

East Coast: 96.6% (+7.6%)Midwest: 86.7% (+1.9%)Gulf Coast: 86.9% (+2.6%)Rocky Mountains: 59.3% (-11.6%)West Coast: 80.3% (-4.1%)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 up by 41.3 MMbbl (3.5%) versus a year ago and stand at 1.230 billion barrels (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve). Including the SPR, total stocks are down 179.2 million barrels (-10.1%) versus a year ago.

IMPORTS/EXPORTS:The U.S. imported 6.86 MMbpd of crude oil per day last week, up 511,000 bpd vs. the previous week, while crude oil exports rose by 1,735,000 bpd to 3.87 MMbpd. Total motor gasoline imports last week averaged 556,000 bpd. The U.S. also imported 148,000 bpd of distillate fuels. However, during the same timeframe, the U.S. exported 934,000 bpd of finished gasoline and 1,002,000 bpd of distillates. In total, U.S. companies exported 10.19 MMbpd of oil and petroleum products.

Before the report was released, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 93 cents to $80.41 per barrel. Just after the report was released, oil was up 63 cents per barrel.

Original source can be found here