API: Petroleum demand last month highest for June since 2007
WASHINGTON — Total petroleum deliveries moved up 2.6% from June 2016 and were up by 1.0% from May to average 20.3 MMbpd in June, according to the American Petroleum Institute. These deliveries were the highest deliveries for the year and the highest deliveries for the month of June in 10 yr, since 2007. For Q2, total domestic petroleum deliveries increased 3.0% compared to Q2 2016. For year to date, total domestic petroleum deliveries increased 1.6% compared to the same period last year.
The overall economy in the US showed gains for the fifth time in the year, adding 222,000 jobs in June, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The US unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 4.4%, and the number of unemployed persons decreased 658,000 to 7.0 MM.
“Strong demand for petroleum is a good sign for the economy which grew for the 97th consecutive month,” said API Director of Statistics Hazem Arafa. “American workers and consumers continue to benefit from these positive economic signs along with relatively low fuel prices.”
Gasoline deliveries in June were down from the prior year and the prior year to date, but were up from the prior month and the prior quarter. Total motor gasoline deliveries, a measure of consumer gasoline demand, moved down 0.5% from June 2016 but were up 0.3% from May to average 9.6 MMbpd—the second highest June deliveries on record. For Q2, total motor gasoline deliveries increased 0.5% compared to Q2 2016. For year to date, total motor gasoline deliveries decreased 0.5% compared with the same period last year.
At 9.3 MMbpd, US crude oil production in June increased 7.2% from June 2016, but nearly unchanged from May. Compared to Q2 2016 and year to date 2016, domestic crude oil production increased 4.6% and 1.4%, respectively. This was the highest crude production level for the month of June in 45 years, since 1972. Natural gas liquids (NGL) production, a co-product of natural gas production, was strong in June, up from the prior month, the prior year, the prior quarter, and the prior year to date levels. NGL production in June averaged 3.6 MMbpd, which was the highest for the month of June on record. This was 2.6% above May’s output and 0.3% higher than June 2016’s output. Compared to Q2 2016, NGL production increased 0.8%. Compared with year to date 2016, NGL production rose 2.6%.
US total petroleum imports in June averaged 10.2 MMbpd, up 3.3% from the prior month, and 1.6% higher than the prior year. Last month’s total petroleum imports were the highest imports for the month of June since 2012. For Q2, total imports were up 1.0% compared with the same period last year. Year to date total imports were up by 2.3% to 10.2 MMbpd compared with year to date 2016. Crude oil imports in June were up from the prior month, the prior year, the prior quarter, and the prior year. Crude oil imports averaged close to 8.0 MMbpd, up 4.9% with the prior year and up 4.0% from May. For Q2, crude imports were up by 2.5% compared with Q2 2016. Compared to the prior year to date, crude imports were up by 2.9. Last month’s crude imports were also the highest June imports since 2012.
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