Beyond The Breakers Trading

A day after the American Petroleum Institute disappointed oil bulls by reporting an estimated inventory build across the board, the Energy Information Administration deepened the mood by saying U.S. crude oil inventories added 1.3 million barrels in the week to February 1.

At 447.2 million barrels, the EIA said, U.S. crude oil inventories are still above the seasonal average but not by much.

In gasoline, the authority reported a build of 500,000 barrels, with daily production at a little less than 9.9 million barrels. A week earlier, gasoline inventories fell by 2.2 million barrels after four weekly builds, and hefty ones, at that, with production averaging 9.9 million bpd.

Distillate fuel inventories last week shed 2.3 million barrels and production averaged 5.1 million barrels per day. A week earlier, inventories recorded a 1.1-million-barrel decline and production averaged 5 million bpd.

Crude oil prices in the meantime remain volatile although not as volatile as some expected after the announcement of the latest round of sanctions by Washington against Caracas. The worry was that the sanctions, targeting specifically PDVSA, will result in a shortage of heavy crude for U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast, but in actuality, there seems to be sufficient spare production capacity around the world to fill any supply gap resulting from the latest developments in and around Venezuela.

It will take time for the market to factor in this fact and for now the concern about a shortage is being offset by the production cuts OPEC and Russia agreed at the end last year.

EIA’s report tends to have more influence on prices, but any effect will likely be temporary, as seen with earlier weekly inventory reports. All in all, many analysts expect the heightened oil price volatility we have been witnessing for a few months now to remain throughout 2019.

By Oilprice.com

U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 17.8 million barrels per day during the week ending June 22, 2018, which was 115,000 barrels per day more than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 97.5% of their operable capacity last week.

Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 10.1 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production decreased last week, averaging 5.4 million barrels per day.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 8.4 million barrels per day last week, up by 114,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 8.3 million barrels per day, 2.4% more than the same four-week period last year.

Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 988,000 barrels per day, and distillate fuel imports averaged 54,000 barrels per day.

Source: eia.gov

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported that domestic crude-oil supplies fell for the first time in 10 weeks. Supplies declined by 200,000 barrels for the week ended March 10.

The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a 531,000-barrel decline, while analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a climb of 3.5 million barrels.

Gasoline supplies fell by 3.1 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles dropped 4.2 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. April crude CLJ7, +2.07% was up 78 cents, or 1.6%, to $48.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was trading at $48.70 before the …

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a build of 11.6 million barrels in United States crude inventories against expert predictions that domestic supplies would see a much kinder 1.4-million-to 1.66-million-barrel build.

The build in crude oil inventories was almost 10 times what analysts had predicted and marks yet another new high in U.S. inventories. The chart below displays a 10-week cumulative build of 35 million barrels, per API data, since the beginning of the year.

A few hours before the API data release, WTI and Brent benchmarks were both down despite Libya’s recent production woes, which were offset by Russia’s.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported an eighth straight weekly increase in domestic crude-oil supplies, but it was smaller than the market expected. Crude inventories rose by 1.5 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 24.

The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a 2.5 million-barrel climb, according to sources, while analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a climb of 2.1 million barrels.

Gasoline supplies declined by 500,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell 900,000 barrels last week, according to the EIA. April crude.