US Crude Oil Inventory Surprisingly Dropped. Yet, This Fails to Rescue Price Decline

The report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that total crude oil and petroleum products (ex. SPR) stocks sank -8.87 mmb to 1223.87 mmb in the week ended November 12. Crude oil inventory dropped -2.1 mmb to 433 mmb, compared with consensus of a +1.4 mmb increase. Inventory increased in 3 out of 5 PADDs. Yet, PADD3 (Gulf Coast) slumped -4.87 mmb growth during the week. Cushing stock added +0.22 mmb to 26.6. Utilization rate added +1.2 percentage points to 87.9% while crude production slipped -0.1 mmb to 11.4M bpd for the week. Crude oil imports increased -0.08M bpd to 6.19M bpd in the week.

Concerning refined oil product inventories, gasoline inventory dropped -0.71 mmb to 212 mmb while demand slid -0.19% to 9.24M bpd. The market had anticipated a -0.58 mmb fall in stockpile. Production slipped -1.31% to 9.92M bpd while imports soared +40.2% to 0.82M bpd during the week. Distillate stockpile slipped 0.82 mmb to 123.69 mmb. The market had anticipated a -1.23 mmb decrease. Demand added +1.64% to 4.35M bpd. Imports slumped -14.03% to 0.24 mmb while production slipped -0.53% to 4.84M bpd during the week.

A day earlier, the industry-sponsored API estimated that crude oil inventory climbed higher, by +0.66 mmb. Gasoline stockpile dropped -2.79 mmb, while that for distillate was up +0.11 mmb.