Houston, USA – The US Energy Information Administration reported a decline in US crude oil inventories for the week ending June 19. Conversely, gasoline and distillate inventories rose more than expected.
This reflects a divergence in supply and demand indicators within the world’s largest economy.
A larger-than-expected drop in crude oil
Data showed that crude oil inventories fell by 6.1 million barrels to 412.1 million barrels.
This figure was higher than analysts’ expectations, which had predicted a decrease of only 4.5 million barrels.
Crude oil inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub also fell by 1.1 million barrels.
This indicates a continued drawdown of commercial inventories in recent months.
High stocks of gasoline and diesel
Conversely, gasoline inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels to 216.3 million barrels,
despite market expectations of a decline of approximately 600,000 barrels.
Distillate fuel inventories, which include diesel and heating oil,
increased by 3.1 million barrels to 106.1 million barrels,
while estimates had anticipated a decrease of about 500,000 barrels.
These increases reflect improved supply levels of refined products,
coinciding with changes in consumption and production rates at US. refineries.
Refinery operations declined and imports increased
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that refinery crude oil consumption fell by 81,000 barrels per day last week.
Meanwhile, refinery utilization rates declined by 0.6 percentage points.
Data also showed that net U.S. crude oil imports rose by 94,000 barrels per day compared to the previous week.
These developments come as global markets continue to monitor energy supply and demand indicators.
This is occurring amidst fluctuating oil prices due to geopolitical developments
and changes in production and consumption levels in major markets.
