The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report this morning. US commercial crude inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels last week, bringing the total US commercial crude inventory to 382.9 million barrels, still above the upper limit of the five-year range for this time of the year.
Platts had estimated an inventory decline of 2 million barrels. WTI crude prices, which have fallen sharply since the first of May, were trading higher before the EIA report and continued to rise slightly to about $87.80/barrel before losing ground later in the morning.
Total gasoline inventories rose by 200,000 barrels last week and are now below the lower limit of the five-year average range. Over the last four weeks, gasoline supplied has declined by -4.3% compared to the same period last year. Total motor gasoline supplied averaged 8.9 million barrels/day for the four weeks.
For the past week, crude imports averaged 8.8 million barrels/day, down by about 344,000 barrels/day from the previous week. Refineries were running at 92% of capacity, with daily input of nearly 15.6 million barrels/day, down by 14,000 barrels/day from the previous week.
According to gasbuddy.com, US gasoline prices average $3.387/gallon today, compared with a pump price of $3.401 a week ago. AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report shows today’s price at $3.338, down from $3.369 a week ago. Pump prices continue to fall, but the weekly drops are getting smaller as crude prices head back up.
WTI crude is down -0.52% today at $87.20/barrel after closing at $87.15/barrel on Tuesday. The United States Oil Fund (NYSEMKT: USO) is down -0.61% at $32.74 in a 52-week range of $29.02-$42.30. The United States Gasoline Fund (NYSEMKT: UGA) is up 1.8% at $51.14 in a 52-week range of $44.65-$58.88.
In the services sector, the Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (NYSEMKT: OIH) is down -1.1% at $36.65 in a 52-week range of $32.54-$45.14.
Paul Ausick
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