US commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 2.4 million bbl during the week ended Dec. 2 compared with the previous week’s total, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s Petroleum Status Report.
At 485.8 million bbl, US crude inventories are at the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. For the week ended Nov. 25, EIA reported a 900,000-bbl decrease in US crude stockpiles (OGJ Online, Nov. 30, 2016).
Analysts surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expected a drop of 900,000 bbl for the week ended Dec. 2.
The American Petroleum Institute’s own data showed a 2.2 million-bbl decline for the week.
Gasoline inventories build
Total motor gasoline inventories during the week ended Dec. 2 increased 3.4 million bbl, and are well above the upper limit of the average range. Both finished gasoline inventories and blending components inventories increased.
Distillate fuel inventories rose 2.5 million bbl, and are above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Propane-propylene inventories fell 1.5 million bbl, but are near the upper limit of the average range. Total commercial petroleum inventories increased 1.4 million bbl.
US crude refinery inputs last week averaged 16.4 million b/d, up 134,000 b/d from the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 90.4% of their operable capacity.
Both gasoline and distillate fuel production decreased last week to 9.9 million b/d and 5.1 million b/d, respectively.
US crude imports averaged 8.3 million b/d, up 755,000 b/d from the previous week’s average. Over the last 4 weeks, crude imports averaged about 8 million b/d, an increase of 5.9% from the same 4-week period last year.
Total motor gasoline imports, including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components, averaged 652,000 b/d. Distillate fuel imports averaged 106,000 b/d last week.