US Crude Oil Inventories Rose 234,000 Barrels Last Week



Crude oil inventories rose 234,000 barrels last week. The consensus was looking for a drop of 2.72 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey, while the analyst forecast calls for an increase of 2 million barrels.

U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged over 16.6 million barrels per day during the week ending January 1, 2016, 65,000 barrels per day less than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 92.5% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging about 8.8 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production increased last week, averaging 5.0 million barrels per day.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged over 7.5 million barrels per day last week, down by 382,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 7.8 million barrels per day, 5.9% above the same four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 602,000 barrels per day. Distillate fuel imports averaged 164,000 barrels per day last week.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 5.1 million barrels from the previous week. At 482.3 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories remain near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years. Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 10.6 million barrels last week, and are in the upper half of the average range. Both finished gasoline inventories and blending components inventories increased last week. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 6.3 million barrels last week and are near the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories fell 1.4 million barrels last week but are well above the upper limit of the average range. Total commercial petroleum inventories increased by 7.3 million barrels last week.

via StreetInsider

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza