US Crude Oil Stocks Fall Short of Five-Year Average

Crude oil stocks in the U.S. dipped to 439.7 million barrels in the week ending August 11, marking a 1% decline below the five-year average.

Over the past week, commercial crude oil inventories in the U.S. (excluding those held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) saw a decrease of 6.0 million barrels compared to the previous week.

Total motor gasoline reserves also experienced a reduction of 0.3 million barrels in the same period, standing about 6% lower than the five-year average for this specific time of the year.

During the same week, there was a drop in finished gasoline inventories, but blending components inventories registered an increase.

Distillate fuel stocks rose by 0.3 million barrels within the same week, but these remain around 16% lower than the five-year average for this time frame.

Propane and propylene inventories observed a 0.7-million-barrel rise from the prior week, reaching 21% above the five-year average for this time of the year.

The broader commercial petroleum inventories underwent a decrease of 7.4 million barrels within the week.

Across the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged approximately 6.7 million barrels per day, reflecting a 4.1% increase compared to the same four-week period of the preceding year.

Total motor gasoline imports, encompassing both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components, averaged 586 thousand barrels per day in the week, while distillate fuel imports averaged 129,000 barrels per day.

For the week ending August 11, 2023, U.S. crude oil refineries registered an average input of 16.7 million barrels per day, a rise of 166,000 barrels per day from the previous week's average.

The EIA report indicates that refineries operated at a capacity of 94.7% last week.

Gasoline production saw a decrease, averaging 9.6 million barrels per day within the same period, while distillate fuel production also declined, averaging 4.7 million barrels per day.

U.S. crude oil imports increased to an average of 7.2 million barrels per day during the week, up by 476 thousand barrels per day from the prior week.

Total products supplied over the past four weeks reached an average of 20.9 million barrels a day, marking a 3.8% increase from the equivalent period in the previous year.

Motor gasoline product supply over the same four-week span averaged 9.0 million barrels per day, experiencing a 0.9% dip compared to the previous year's equivalent period.

Meanwhile, distillate fuel product supply averaged 3.7 million barrels a day over the four-week period, down by 2.1% from the same timeframe last year. Jet fuel product supply saw a 4.6% increase compared with the corresponding four-week period of the previous year.

On August 11, 2023, the West Texas Intermediate crude oil price stood at $83.17 per barrel, marking a $0.41 increase from the previous week, but remaining $11.69 lower than the price recorded a year ago.