On Wednesday, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that last week, US crude oil inventories dipped to the lowest level since January 2020.
On the week ended August 13, crude stocks slumped by 3.2 million barrels to 435.5 million barrels, exceeding the forecast for only a fall of 1.1 million barrels. Crude exports jumped by 3.4 million bpd.
In the delivery hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, crude stockpiles dropped by 980,000 barrels in the period, continuing the fall for 10 weeks in a row. The hub has been at the lowest stock levels since October 2018 at 33.6 million barrels.
Gasoline stocks gained 696,000 barrels last week to 228.2 million barrels, contrasting with the predictions for a drop of 1.7 million barrels. Distillate plunged by 2.7 million barrels to 137.8 million barrels, also in contrast with the expectations for a 276,000 barrels climb.
Last week’s refinery crude runs dipped by 191,000 bpd but the utilization rates inched up by 0.4%. The four-week average of overall product supplied to the market was in line with the pre-coronavirus levels from 2019 at 20.8 million bpd.
Following the report, oil prices rose on Wednesday. By 11.16 AM EDT (15.16 GMT), US crude edged down by 6 cents to USD66.65/barrel while Brent jumped by 29 cents at USD69.32/barrel.
The country’s crude output rose to 11.4 million bpd. In September, shale oil production is projected to jump to the highest level since April 2020 at 8.1 million bpd.
