US crude oil inventories for the week ended Dec. 21, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, remained virtually unchanged from the previous week, data from the US Energy Information Administration showed.
EIA released the Weekly Petroleum Status Report 2 days later than normal because of the closure of the federal government on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 for the Christmas holiday.
At 441.4 million bbl, down from the reported 441.5 million bbl the previous week, US crude oil inventories are about 7% above the 5-year average for this time of year, the report indicated.
EIA said total motor gasoline inventories increased by 3 million bbl and are about 4% above the 5-year range. Finished gasoline inventories remained the same but blending components inventories increased last week. Distillate fuel inventories remained unchanged last week and are about 11% below the 5-year average for this time of year.
Propane-propylene inventories decreased by 1 million bbl last week and are about 5% below the 5-year average for this time of year, EIA said.
US refinery inputs averaged 17.4 million b/d for the week ended Dec. 21, about 58,000 b/d less than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 95.1% of capacity.
Gasoline production decreased, averaging 10.1 million b/d. Distillate fuel production increased, averaging 5.4 million b/d.
US crude oil imports averaged 7.7 million b/d, up by 233,000 b/d from the previous week. Over the last 4 weeks, crude oil imports averaged 7.4 million b/d, 2.3% less than the same period last year. Total motor gasoline imports averaged 509,000 b/d. Distillate fuel imports averaged 204,000 b/d.
