Weekly DOE Crude & Product Inventory Analysis

· Crude inventories see surprise draw – Crude oil inventories decreased 1.8 mmbbls last week, compared with market expectations for a 1.0 mmbbls build (per Bloomberg). Crude oil inventories are now sitting at 359.9 mmbbls, which is 6.6% above last year and 12.9% above the five-year average. Crude oil was trading US$1.20/bbl higher to US$75.87/bbl following the announcement.

· Gasoline inventories mostly unchanged – Gasoline inventories were mostly unchanged last week, falling 0.2 mmbbls, which was less than market expectations of a 1.0 mmbbls draw (per Bloomberg). Inventories of gasoline are now sitting at 225.2 mmbbls, which is 8.7% above last year and 14.4% above the five-year average.

· Distillate inventories move lower – Inventories of distillates decreased 0.4 mmbbls last week, compared with market expectations for a 0.7 mmbbls build (per Bloomberg). Distillate inventories are now sitting at 174.8 mmbbls, which is 5.6% above last year and 23.4% above the five-year average.

· Refinery utilization edges higher – Refinery utilization increased 1.2% last week to 88.2% which is 1% above last year and 0.9% above the five-year average.