Fredericksburg Leader

OIL INVENTORIES SURGE ALONGSIDE BUILD IN GASOLINE STOCKS, DISTILLATES FALL

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 16.3 million barrels (MMbbl) to a total of 471.4 MMbbl. At 471.4 MMbbl, inventories are 59.9 MMbbl above last year (14.6%) and are about 8% above the five-year average for this time of year. Inventories in Cushing, OK, the NYMEX delivery point, rose 0.6 million barrels to a total of 39.7 million barrels. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) was unchanged from the prior week and stands at 371.6 million barrels and stands 36.5% below the year ago level.

Domestic crude oil production was unchanged at 12.3 million barrels per day, 700,000 bpd higher than the year ago period. While Alaska oil production was up 4,000bpd to 456,000bpd, production in the Lower 48 was unchanged at 11.8 million barrels per day.

GASOLINE INVENTORIES:Gasoline inventories increased by 2.3 million barrels (MMbbl) to a total of 241.9 MMbbl. At 241.9 MMbbl, inventories are down 5.1 MMbbl, or 2.1% lower than a year ago and are 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.

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

East Coast (+3.1 MMbbl)Midwest (-0.4 MMbbl)Gulf Coast (+0.5 MMbbl)Rockies (+0.0 MMbbl)West Coast (-0.8 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 1.3 million barrels to a total of 119.2 MMbbl. At 119.2 MMbbl, inventories are down 1.0 MMbbl, or 0.9% lower vs. a year ago. Distillate inventories stand about 15% below the five-year average for this time of year.

IMPLIED GASOLINE DEMAND:Gasoline supplied to the market amounted to 8.27 million barrels per day (MMbpd), or 154,000 bpd lower than the previous week. So far in 2023, implied gasoline demand (“products supplied”) is 3.0% lower versus 2022, per the EIA.

REFINERY OUTPUT/UTILIZATION:Refinery utilization decreased by 1.4 percentage points vs. last week’s numbers to reach 86.5%. Gasoline production decreased to 9.1 million barrels per day while distillate fuel production decreased to 4.5 million barrels per day last week.

Utilization rates for the last week were as follows:

East Coast: 81.4% (-9.4%)Midwest: 91.9% (-0.7%)Gulf Coast: 86.7% (-1.5%)Rocky Mountains: 71.5% (-2.0%)West Coast: 82.6% (+0.6%)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 97.2 MMbbl (8.4%) versus a year ago and stand at 1.258 billion barrels (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve). Including the SPR, total stocks are down 116.0 million barrels (-6.6%) versus a year ago.

IMPORTS/EXPORTS:The U.S. imported 6.23 MMbpd of crude oil per day last week, down 826,000 bpd vs. the previous week, while crude oil exports rose by 246,000 bpd to 3.15 MMbpd. Total motor gasoline imports last week averaged 589,000 bpd. The U.S. also imported 221,000 bpd of distillate fuels. However, during the same timeframe, the U.S. exported 786,000 bpd of finished gasoline and 1,020,000 bpd of distillates. In total, U.S. companies exported 9.21 MMbpd of oil and petroleum products.

Before the report was released, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 84 cents to $78.22 per barrel. Just after the report was released, oil was down 78 cents per barrel.

Original source can be found here