US crude oil inventories for the week ended Dec. 4, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 15.2 million bbl from the previous week, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.
At 503.2 million bbl, US crude oil inventories are 11% above the 5-year average for this time of year, the EIA report indicated. The increase is the largest since inventories jumped by 19.2 million bbl for the week ended Apr. 10 (OGJ Online, Apr. 15, 2020).
EIA said total motor gasoline inventories increased by 4.2 million bbl and are about 5% above the 5-year range for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories decreased while blending component inventories increased last week. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 5.2 million bbl and are about 11% above the 5-year average for this time of year.
Propane-propylene inventories decreased by 4.1 million bbl last week and are about 4% above the 5-year average for this time of year, EIA said.
US refinery inputs averaged 14.4 million b/d for the week ended Dec. 4, about 424,000 b/d more than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 79.9% of capacity.
Gasoline production decreased, averaging 8.3 million b/d. Distillate fuel production increased, averaging 4.7 million b/d.
US crude oil imports averaged 6.5 million b/d, up 1.1 million b/d from the previous week. Over the last 4 weeks, crude oil imports averaged 5.6 million b/d, 10.7% less than the same period last year. Total motor gasoline imports averaged 789,000 b/d. Distillate fuel imports averaged 279,000 b/d.