US crude inventories slump amid near record refining
(Reuters) — US crude oil inventories fell for the seventh straight week as refiners processed a near record amount of crude last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, even as gasoline and distillate stockpiles also dipped.
Crude inventories fell 4.4 MMbbl in the week ended May 19, more than analysts' forecasts of a 2.4-MMbbl decline.
At 516.3 MMbbl, US crude inventories were the smallest since mid-February, a sign that OPEC's efforts to reduce world supply are starting to have an effect in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer.
The data comes one day before the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, along with non-member nations, are scheduled to decide whether to extend its agreement to cut world supply, an effort that has only recently started to bear fruit in global inventory figures.
Refinery crude runs rose 159,000 bpd to 17.281 MMbpd last week, the second highest volume of crude processed since the EIA began collecting the data in 1982. The record volume was 17.285 MMbpd in late April.
Refinery utilization rates edged up 0.1 percentage points to 93.5% of nationwide capacity. Refiners have come back from spring turnarounds at full throttle with rates above 90% for eight straight weeks, including a record of 94.1% in late April.
“Gasoline demand is picking up in the US, which also resulted in larger-than-expected crude drawdown despite higher oil production and imports," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy's Global Gas Analytics in London.
Refiners have said product exports are supporting the high refining rates. Product exports have averaged 4.7 MMbpd over the last four weeks, the EIA data showed, up more than 30% than this time a year ago.
US crude production rose to 9.32 MMbpd from 9.301 MMbpd and crude imports rose slightly by 165,000 bpd.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for crude futures fell by 741,000 bbl, EIA said.
Crude futures rose briefly on the data. But an hour later, by 11:30 a.m. (1530 GMT) US crude was down 8 cents at $51.39/bbl after touching $51.88/bbl, highest since April 19.
Gasoline stocks fell 787,000 barrels, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.2-MMbbl drop.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 485,000 bbl, versus expectations for a 743,000-bbl drop, the EIA data showed.
Reporting by David Gaffen; Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Scott DiSavino; Editing by Marguerita Choy
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