US petroleum demand reached 20.6 million b/d in March—the highest level since 2007, according to the latest monthly statistics of the American Petroleum Institute. To satisfy demand, US refineries utilized 91.5% of their capacity—a record for the month of March—and processed 17 million b/d of oil and natural gas liquids. The US also produced a record 10.4 million b/d of crude oil plus another 3.9 million b/d of NGLs.
“As the US’s leading position in oil and natural gas markets advanced in March, consumers continue to enjoy affordable prices at the pump,” said API Chief Economist Dean Foreman. “Economic strength at home and abroad has spurred a virtuous cycle of US oil demand, production, and exports that in turn have helped to reinforce prices and motivate even greater infrastructure investment and US drilling activity. The proverbial April surprise was that the US drilling rig count eclipsed 1,000 for the first time since April 2015 and positioned the US for further supply growth.”
The US petroleum trade balance narrowed in March as the global thirst for US crude oil and major refined product exports rose to 6.8 million b/d, which also was a record for the month and an increase of 1 million b/d from March 2017. With strong demand and exports, US inventories fell in March by 4.9% year-over-year but rose compared with February. Within the total, inventories of crude oil and “other oils” increased between February and March, which is partly why domestic oil prices traded at a greater discount to international ones and NGL prices have fallen.
In addition, US exported 6.8 million b/d of crude oil and refined product, increased 8% from February and 16.2% compared with March 2017. Crude oil exports of 1.6 million b/d in March continued to rise and more than double those of March 2017.
