Sharp Fall in US Inventory Gives Further Boost to Crude Oil Price

The report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that total crude oil and petroleum products (ex. SPR) stocks declined -5.81 mmb to 1282.86 mmb in the week ended June 18. Crude oil inventory slumped -7.61 mmb (consensus: -3.94 mmb) to 459.06 mmb. Stockpile decreased in 4 out of 5 PADDs. PADD 3 (Gulf Coast) saw declines of -5.07 mmb. Cushing stock sank -1.83 mmb to 41.72 mmb. Utilization rate decreased +0.4 percentage points to 92.2% while crude production slipped -0.1M bpd to 11.1M bpd for the week. Crude oil imports increased +0.2M bpd to 6.94M bpd in the week.

Concerning refined oil product inventories, gasoline inventory dropped -2.93 mmb to 240.05 mmb as demand gained +0.85% to 9.44M bpd. The market had anticipated a +0.83 mmb gain in stockpile. Production added +4.04% to 10.33M bpd while imports sank -20% to 0.84M bpd during the week. Distillate stockpile added +1.75 mmb to 137.95 mmb. The market had anticipated a +1.08 mmb increase. Demand slumped -8.97% to 3.95M bpd. Production added +1.11% to 5.11 mmb while imports fell -25.61% to 0.28M bpd during the week.

A day earlier, the industry-sponsored API estimated that crude oil inventory was down -7.2 mmb. Gasoline stockpile gained +0.96 mmb, while that for distillate added +0.99 mmb.