Total US petroleum deliveries, a measure of petroleum demand, moved up 3% in October from a year ago to average 20.1 million b/d, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute. This level was the highest October deliveries since 2007.
For year to date, total US petroleum deliveries moved up 0.3% compared with the same period last year.
Overall the US economy showed signs of improvement in October with an estimated 161,000 jobs added, according to a Nov. 4 report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The unemployment rate, at 4.9%, and the total number of unemployed persons, at 7.8 million, were essentially unchanged from September.
Gasoline deliveries in October were down from the previous month, but up from the previous year as well as the previous year-to-date. Total motor gasoline deliveries moved up 0.2% from October 2015 to 9.3 million b/d. These were the lowest deliveries since April, but remained the second highest October deliveries on record.
“Gasoline deliveries continue to be near historical monthly highs as consumers have been enjoying low fuel costs throughout the year relative to 2015,” said chief economist Erica Bowman.
US crude oil production in October was higher compared with the previous month, but was lower than the previous year and the previous year-to-date. At an average of 8.6 million b/d, US crude oil production in October decreased 8% from October 2015, but increased from September by 0.2%. October’s crude oil production was the third-highest since 1985 and the second-highest year to date since 1985.
Total US petroleum imports in October averaged nearly 9.8 million b/d, down 2% from the previous month, but up 10.4% from the previous year. October’s total petroleum imports were the fourth-lowest imports for the month since 1995. Year-to-date total imports were up 6.3% to average 10 million b/d compared with 2015.
Meanwhile, crude oil imports in October were up compared with the previous year, increasing 8% from October 2015 to average 7.7 million b/d. Compared with the previous month, crude imports were down 0.9%. Compared with year-to-date 2015, crude imports were up 7.3%. Last month’s crude imports were the fourth-lowest October imports since 1995.
Crude oil stocks, excluding lease stocks, ended in October averaging 483.7 million bbl—the highest October inventory level in since 1930. Crude stocks were up 3.2% or 15.1 million bbl from the previous month, and were up 6.3% or 28.5 million bbl from the previous year. Stocks of motor gasoline ended in October down 1% vs. a month ago, but were up 2.6% from last year to average 223 million bbl. These were the highest motor gasoline stocks for the month since 1984.
