US Oil Stockpiles Tumble as Fuel Demand Jumps Amid Holiday Travel, Package Delivery

Oil barrelWASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US crude oil inventories fell three times more than expected last week, data from the government’s Energy Information Administration, or EIA, showed Wednesday, as fuel demand rose from higher public travel as well as activity by truckers to deliver packages for the year-end holidays. Crude inventories fell by 5.894 million barrels for the week ended December 16, versus a drawdown of 10.231 million during the previous week to December 9, the EIA said in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report. Analysts polled by US media had expected a smaller drawdown of 1.657M barrels for last week. Crude stockpiles in the government-controlled US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, fell by 3.7 million barrels to reach 378.6 million last week, the EIA report showed. The Biden administration has drawn more than 200 million barrels from the SPR over the past year to bridge supply deficits in the marketplace, in order to keep both crude and retail prices of gasoline low. The dependency on the SPR has brought stockpiles in the reserve to the lowest levels since December 1983, although the government has announced plans to start refilling the reserve from February 2023. AmericasBiden Administration to Release 15 Million Barrels From US Strategic Oil Reserve 18 October, 23:08 GMTGasoline stockpiles rose by 2.53 million barrels, versus a forecast build of 2.14 million barrels. In the prior week, gasoline stockpiles rose by 4.496 million. Gasoline is the top automobile fuel in the United States. Inventories of distillates, meanwhile, rose by 242,000 barrels last week, compared with a projected build of 336,000. In the prior week, gasoline inventories rose by 1.364 million. Distillates are refined into diesel for trucks, buses, trains and ships as well as fuel for jets. Total product supply of finished motor gasoline in the marketplace — an indication of demand — was at 8.714 million barrels per day last week, up by 489,000 barrels per day. Supply of distillate fuel oil, meanwhile, rose by 247,000 barrels per day to 4.015 million barrels per day. Supply of kerosene-type jet fuel fell by 52,000 barrels per day, to reach 1.712 million barrels daily. Demand aside, gasoline and distillate inventories also experienced a larger inventory drop last week from reduced refining activity. Refineries operated at 90.9% of their operable capacity last week, versus 92.2% in the previous week to December 2, the EIA said.

Source