US Petroleum Inventories Rise, Imports Decline Slightly

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report this morning. US commercial crude inventories rose by 800,000 barrels last week, bringing the total US commercial crude inventory to 345.7 million barrels, around the upper limit of the five-year range for this time of the year..

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg news offered a consensus estimate for a weekly inventory gain of 1.5 million barrels. The smaller gain is still likely to push prices down because the total inventory grew by about 1 million barrels in the week ending March 2nd.

Total gasoline inventories fell by 400,000 barrels last week and remain in the upper limit of the five-year average range. Over the last four weeks, gasoline supplied has declined by -7.8% compared to the same period last year. Total motor gasoline supplied averaged just under 8.4 million barrels/day for the four weeks.

For the past week, crude imports averaged 8.7 million barrels/day, down by 18,000 barrels/day from the previous week. Refineries were running at 83.9% of capacity, with daily input of nearly 14.6 million barrels/day, down by 18,000 barrels/day from the previous week.

Higher inventories and the decline in gasoline supplied indicate demand continues to fall in the US. Lower import levels are likely a sign that refinery turnarounds are beginning as the refiners make the switch from winter to summer fuel.

According to gasbuddy.com, US gasoline prices average $3.716/gallon today, compared with a pump price of $3.689 a week ago.