According to data from the American Petroleum Institute, total US petroleum deliveries, a measure of petroleum demand, moved up 1.6% in August from the same period last year to average 20.1 million b/d. These were the highest August deliveries since 2007.
“When petroleum demand grows it’s a sign the economy is on the right track,” said Erica Bowman, API chief economist. “The overall economy showed gains for the seventh time in the year, adding 151,000 jobs in August, which is good news for everyone.”
Compared with July, total US petroleum deliveries decreased by less than 0.1%. For year-to-date, total US petroleum deliveries moved up 1% compared with the same period last year.
Gasoline deliveries in August reached the highest August level on record, up from the prior month, the prior year, and the prior year-to-date. Total motor gasoline deliveries, a measure of consumer gasoline demand, moved up 2.2% from August 2015 to average 9.7 million b/d. Compared with July, total motor gasoline deliveries increased 0.1%. For year-to-date, total motor gasoline deliveries increased 2.4% compared with year-to-date 2015 to a record level near 9.4 million b/d.
Crude oil production increased 0.3% from July, but was down 9.2% from August 2015 to average 8.5 million b/d in August. However, this was the first month since this past March where production increased month over month. This was the third-highest August level since 1985. For year-to-date, crude production was also down 6.1% compared with year-to-date 2015, but was the second highest year-to-date level since 1985.
US total petroleum imports last month averaged 10.7 million b/d, up 2.5% from the prior month and up 9.7% from the prior year. For year-to-date, total petroleum imports also were up 6.9% compared with year-to-date 2015. Crude oil imports increased 9.8% from August 2015 to nearly 8.4 million b/d in August. Compared with July, crude oil imports were 3.6% higher. For year-to-date, crude imports were up 8.1% compared with year-to-date 2015.
Crude oil stocks ended August at 515.1 million bbl—the highest August inventory level in 96 years. Crude stocks were down 4.5 million bbl or 0.9% from the prior month, but were up 57.3 million bbl or 12.4% from the prior year. In August, total motor gasoline stocks ended at 231.2 million bbl, down 2.5% from the prior month but up 7.8% from prior year. August’s total motor gasoline stocks were the highest inventory level for the month of August for 35 years, but were the lowest inventory level in 2016.