U.S. commercial crude stocks continued to climb during the week that ended March 1, hitting their highest level since the end of June, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed Wednesday, as refinery utilization dropped sharply across the country during that week. Crude stocks rose by 3.833 million barrels during the week that ended March 1, bringing total commercial crude inventories to 381.351 million barrels – 12.58% above the five-year average – and their highest level since late June 2012.
The climb in inventories was largely due to a sharp decline in refinery utilization over the week that ended March 1. Refinery utilization fell 2.9 percentage points to 82.2% of total capacity. U.S. crude imports, meanwhile, fell by 650,000 barrels per day (b/d).
Crude inputs fell by 480,000 b/d to 14.031 million b/d, hitting their lowest level since the week ended April 8, 2011, as refinery maintenance season continued to bite. The decline in refinery utilization more than reversed an unexpected jump over the previous reporting week.
Crude inventories rose by 3.5 million barrels along the U.S. Gulf Coast (USGC), bringing total crude stocks in the region to 178.1 million barrels, even as imports dropped by 256,000 b/d. Crude inputs in the region plunged by 294,000 b/d over the week that ended March 1 to 6.877 million b/d as refinery utilization was slashed to 80.6% of total capacity, down 3.3 percentage points on the week.
Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma – the delivery point for the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) crude contract – increased by 257,000 barrels, even as inventories in the larger Midwest reporting district decreased by 700,000 barrels. Refinery utilization in the region declined 5.6 percentage points to 86% of total capacity, while crude oil inputs fell by 205,000 b/d.
American Petroleum Institute (API) data released Tuesday afternoon showed a 5.6 million-barrel increase in U.S. commercial crude stocks and a 2.1 percentage-point decline in refinery utilization over the week that ended March 1. Analysts that Platts polled Monday had anticipated a 1.1 million-barrel increase in crude stocks.
U.S. product inventories declined over the course of the week that ended March 1, with distillate stocks dropping 3.830 million barrels to bring total stocks to 120.354 million barrels. Gasoline inventories fell 620,000 barrels to 227.880 million barrels.
The drop in inventories largely was because of a sharp decline in refinery utilization across the country, which contributed to a 228,000 b/d drop in distillate production and a 200,000 b/d fall in gasoline production.
Distillate inventories declined by 3.3 million barrels along the USGC, while gasoline stocks dropped by 2.1 million barrels in the region. The fall in USGC product inventories accounted for the largest changes across the five reporting districts.
Along the U.S. Atlantic Coast (USAC), gasoline inventories increased by 700,000 barrels to 60.5 million barrels. USAC gasoline stocks have increased for 10 of the last 11 reporting weeks, bringing total inventories to 1.35% below the five-year average, compared with 11.25% below in mid-January.
Implied demand* for gasoline fell 233,000 b/d to 8.364 million b/d over the week that ended March 1, while demand for distillates increased by 355,000 b/d to 3.857 million b/d.
Analysts that Platts polled anticipated a 1.3 million-barrel decline in distillate stocks and a 1.6 million-barrel drop in gasoline stocks. Tuesday's API data showed a 1.6 million-barrel fall in distillates and a 914,000 barrel decline in gasoline stocks.
* Implied demand is the amount of product that moves through the U.S. distribution system, not actual end consumption.
Source: Platts