USA Crude Oil Stocks Rise by Almost 4 Million Barrels WoW

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), increased by 3.7 million barrels from the week ending September 26 to the week ending October 3, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted in its latest weekly petroleum status report.

That report, which was released on October 8 and included data for the week ending October 3, showed that crude oil stocks, not including the SPR, stood at 420.3 million barrels on October 3, 416.5 million barrels on September 26, and 422.7 million barrels on October 4, 2024. The report highlighted that data may not add up to totals due to independent rounding.

Crude oil in the SPR stood at 407.0 million barrels on October 3, 406.7 million barrels on September 26, and 382.9 million barrels on October 4, 2024, the report revealed. Total petroleum stocks – including crude oil, total motor gasoline, fuel ethanol, kerosene type jet fuel, distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, propane/propylene, and other oils – stood at 1.694 billion barrels on October 3, the report highlighted. Total petroleum stocks were down 0.9 million barrels week on week and up 52.2 million barrels year on year, the report showed.

“At 420.3 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about four percent below the five year average for this time of year,” the EIA said in its latest weekly petroleum status report.

“Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 1.6 million barrels from last week and are about one percent below the five year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories increased, while blending components inventories decreased last week,” it added.

“Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 2.0 million barrels last week and are about six percent below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories decreased by 2.9 million barrels from last week and are nine percent above the five year average for this time of year,” it continued.

In an oil and gas report sent to Rigzone late Monday by the Macquarie team, Macquarie strategists, including Walt Chancellor, revealed that they were forecasting that U.S. crude inventories would be up by 4.3 million barrels for the week ending October 3.

“This follows a 1.8 million barrel build in the prior week, with the crude balance again realizing looser than our expectations,” the strategists said in that report.

Refinery Inputs, Oil Imports, Products Supplied

U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.3 million barrels per day during the week ending October 3, according to the EIA’s latest weekly petroleum status report, which pointed out that this was 130,000 barrels per day more than the previous week’s average.

“Refineries operated at 92.4 percent of their operable capacity last week,” the EIA said in its report.

“Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.8 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production increased by 210,000 barrels per day last week, averaging 5.2 million barrels per day,” it added.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.4 million barrels per day last week, the report noted. It outlined that this was an increase of 570,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

“Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.1 million barrels per day, 4.8 percent less than the same four-week period last year,” the EIA said in its report.

“Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 627,000 barrels per day, and distillate fuel imports averaged 132,000 barrels per day,” it added.

Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.9 million barrels a day, up by 1.7 percent from the same period last year, the EIA stated in its latest weekly petroleum status report.

“Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.8 million barrels a day, down by 2.6 percent from the same as the last year period,” the EIA noted.

“Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 3.8 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, down by 1.1 percent from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied was down 6.9 percent compared with the same four-week period last year,” it continued.

Gasoline, Diesel Price

The EIA’s latest weekly petroleum status report also noted that the national average retail price for regular gasoline increased to $3.124 per gallon on October 6, “$0.006 more than last week’s price, and $0.012 less than the year-ago price”.

“The national average retail diesel fuel price decreased $0.043 to $3.711 per gallon, $0.127 more than the price one year ago,” the EIA highlighted in the report.

According to the AAA Fuel Prices website, the average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. is $3.110 per gallon as of October 9. Yesterday’s average was $3.115 per gallon, the week ago average was $3.159 per gallon, the month ago average was $3.193 per gallon, and the year ago average was $3.204 per gallon, the site showed.

The average price of diesel in the U.S. is $3.676 per gallon as of October 9, the site pointed out. Yesterday’s average was $3.679 per gallon, the week ago and the month ago average was $3.704 per gallon, and the year ago average was $3.603 per gallon, according to the site.

Government Shutdown

A statement posted on the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget website on September 30 warned that “government funding runs out at midnight tonight, with none of the twelve appropriations bills nor a temporary continuing resolution (CR) having been passed and signed into law”.

“Unless a government funding deal is reached today, the federal government will experience its first shutdown since 2019 and its first full shutdown since 2013,” it added.

The White House website highlights that the U.S. government is currently shut down.

In a statement sent to Rigzone on October 1, the EIA said it “will be able to operate for a period of time during the lapse in appropriations”.

“Until further notice, the EIA.gov website will continue to be updated, and publications will continue to be released according to established schedules,” the EIA said in the statement.

A banner visible on the EIA website on Thursday states that the EIA “is continuing normal publication schedules and data collection until further notice”.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget describes itself on its website as a nonpartisan, non-profit organization committed to educating the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com