EIA: US oil inventories drop 1.8 million bbl

US commercial crude inventories for the week ended Dec. 5, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, dropped 1.8 million bbl from the previous week to 425.7 million bbl, which is about 4% below the average range for this time of year, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Total motor gasoline inventories gained 6.4 million bbl last week and are about 1% below the 5-year average range for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories and blending components inventories rose.

Distillate fuel inventories increased by 2.5 million bbl but are 7% below the 5-year average for this time of year.

EIA reported that US crude refinery inputs last week averaged 16.9 million b/d, down 17,000 b/d from the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 94.5% of their operable capacity.

Gasoline production decreased to 9.6 million b/d, while distillate fuel production increased by 380,000 b/d, averaging 5.4 million b/d.

US crude imports averaged 6.6 million b/d, up 609,000 b/d from the previous week’s average. Over the last 4 weeks, crude imports averaged 6.2 million b/d, down 7.7% from the same 4-week period last year.

Total motor gasoline imports, including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components, averaged 659,000 b/d. Distillate fuel imports averaged 181,000 b/d last week.