The Energy Information Administration released its weekly report this week on the status of petroleum inventories in the United States.
Here are some highlights:
CRUDE INVENTORIES:
Crude oil inventories decreased by 1.9 million barrels (mb) to a total of 454.0 million barrels. At 454.0 million barrels, inventories are 96.0 million barrels above last year (26.8%) and are well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
GASOLINE INVENTORIES:
Gasoline inventories increased by 1.4 million barrels to 218.8 million barrels. At 218.8 million barrels, inventories are up 8.4 million barrels, 4.0% higher than one year ago. Here’s how individual regions and their gasoline inventory fared last week: East Coast (-1.6mb); Midwest (-0.5mb); Gulf Coast (+3.4mb); Rockies (+0.1mb); and West Coast (+0.8mb). It is 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 2.1 million barrels to a total of 151.9 million barrels. At 151.9 million barrels, inventories are up 23.3 million barrels, or 18.1% vs. a year ago.
IMPLIED DEMAND:
Gasoline supplied to end users amounted to 9.2 million barrels per day (mbpd), or 232,000 barrels per day higher than the previous week. So far in 2015, gasoline supplied is 4.1% higher versus 2014, according to the EIA.
REFINERY OUTPUT/UTILIZATION:
Refinery utilization decreased by 2.2% vs. last week’s numbers to 90.9%. Gasoline production decreased to 9.5 million barrels per day while distillate fuel production increased last week, averaging 5.1 million barrels per day.
Utilization rates for the last week were as follows: East Coast: 82.2%, Midwest: 92.1%, Gulf Coast: 91.8%, Rocky Mountain: 94.0%, West Coast: 89.7%. These percentages show how much of a region’s overall capacity were used to refine oil. It is 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, your more likely to see prices rise.
OVERALL SUPPLY:
Total oil stocks in the United States are up by 158.0 million barrels (13.9%) over last year and stand at 1.3 billion barrels (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve).
IMPORTS/EXPORTS:
The U.S. imported 7.2 million barrels of crude oil per day last week, down by 13,000bpd vs. the previous week. Total motor gasoline imports last week averaged 504,000bpd. The U.S. also imported 164,000bpd of distillate fuels. However, during the same time frame, the U.S. exported 419,000bpd of gasoline and 1.2mbpd of distillates. In total, U.S. refineries exported 4.2 million barrels per day of oil and petroleum products.
Shortly before the 10:30 am EIA report was released, oil was trading up $0.10/bbl at $46.46/bbl. About an hour after the report was issued, oil was down 54 cents per barrel.
