Data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that US commercial crude oil stocks hit a record high during the week ended June 5. The build was 5.72 million barrels last week, pushing the inventories to 538.07 million barrels, 13.5% above the five-year average, according to EIA data.
Weak demand from refineries partly contributed to the build. Last week, US total refinery utilization rose to 73.1% of capacity, with net crude inputs increasing by 180,000 bpd to 13.48 million bpd. Refinery crude demand rose to has climbed by 1.1 million bpd since early May, but net crude inputs remain 20% lower than the five-year average.
Weak refinery demand also affects US upstream crude output, which averaged at 11.1 million bpd last week, 2 million bpd lower than production in mind-March. US crude exports also decreased, which contributed to last week’s inventory build. Exports stood at 2.44 million bps last week, down by 360,000 from a week earlier. Exports are expected to remain under pressure in the coming weeks as the market works through about 175 million barrel glut sitting in floating storage.
Meanwhile, US distillate stockpiles stood at 175.83 million barrels last week, climbing by 1.57 million barrels from a week earlier. As a result, inventories are roughly 20% higher than the five-year average. Total product supplied for diesel increased 590,000 bpd to 3.3 million bpd, EIA data showed. US gasoline stocks were up 870,000 barrels to 258.66 million barrels over the same period.
