Weekly DOE Crude & Product Inventory Analysis

Crude inventories increase slightly below expectations – Crude oil inventories increased 0.7 mmbbls last week, slightly below market expectations for a 1.5 mmbbls build (per Bloomberg). Crude oil inventories are now sitting at 361.2 mmbbls, which is 6.5% above last year and 11.8% above the five-year average.

Gasoline inventories also up slightly – Gasoline inventories rose 1.1 mmbbls last week, compared with market expectations for a 1.5 mmbbls draw (per Bloomberg). Inventories of gasoline are now sitting at 219.3 mmbbls, which is 6.0% above last year and 9.6% above the five-year average.

Distillate demand showing continued improvement – Inventories of distillates decreased 2.1 mmbbls last week, compared with market expectations for a 1.0 mmbbls draw (per Bloomberg). As the chart below shows, distillate demand has steadily been increasing since July with demand now approaching 5-year averages. Distillate inventories are now sitting at 170.1 mmbbls, which is 0.1% above last year and 22.6% above the five-year average. ·

Refinery utilization edges up – Refinery utilization rose 0.6% last week to 82.9% which is 1.4% above last year and 1.5% below the five-year average.