Investing.com - Crude stockpiles fell by 4.5 million barrels in the United States last week as exports accelerated from inroads made by US oil into overseas markets, while supply cuts by OPEC+ resulted in lower imports, a government report showed Wednesday.
Declines were also noted in inventories of gasoline, the premier US fuel product, and distillates — a feedstock for diesel and heating fuel, the Weekly Petroleum Status Report of the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, showed.
Typically at this time of year, demand for fuels is softer in the United States as fewer families do road trips, with children back in school or college. But with the refinery industry on seasonal maintenance, larger-than-usual declines in fuel stocks also occur at times, due to limited replenishment.
The U.S. crude inventory balance fell by 4.491M barrels during the week ended Oct. 13, according to the EIA. That contrasted with a 10.176M jump in the prior week to Oct. 6 led largely by a sharp decline in exports.
In the latest week though, crude exports regained their mantle to reach 5.301M barrels per day versus the prior daily run of 3.067M. Imports, meanwhile, fell by 387,000 barrels per day, amounting to a weekly tally of 2.709M.
Aside from the headline number for crude, the EIA also noted a 0.758M barrel decline at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude, on top of the previous week’s draw of 0.547M. That was the lowest for Cushing storage levels since October 2014, historical EIA data showed. Oil held in Cushing has dropped drastically this year, prompting concerns that it might reach such critical lows to complicate operations at the storage hub.
On the fuel side, the EIA reported a gasoline inventory slide of 2.37M barrels and distillate stockpiles drop of 3.185 barrels. In the prior week, gasoline saw a 1.3134-M barrel build while distillates experienced a 1.837M drop.