USA Crude Oil Stocks Rise More Than 5MM Barrels WoW

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) increased by 5.2 million barrels from the week ending October 24 to the week ending October 31.

That’s what the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted in its latest weekly petroleum status report, which was released on November 5 and included data for the week ending October 31.

The EIA report showed that crude oil stocks, not including the SPR, stood at 421.2 million barrels on October 31, 416.0 million barrels on October 24, and 427.7 million barrels on November 1, 2024. Crude oil in the SPR stood at 409.6 million barrels on October 31, 409.1 million barrels on October 24, and 387.2 million barrels on November 1, 2024, the report highlighted.

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 1.679 billion barrels on October 31, the report revealed. Total petroleum stocks were up 1.1 million barrels week on week and up 44.5 million barrels year on year, the report showed.

“At 421.2 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 4.7 million barrels from last week and are about five percent below the five year average for this time of year. Both finished gasoline and blending components inventories decreased last week,” it added.

“Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 0.6 million barrels last week and are about nine percent below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories increased by 0.4 million barrels from last week and are 15 percent above the five year average for this time of year,” it continued.

U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.3 million barrels per day during the week ending October 31, according to the EIA’s latest weekly petroleum status report. The organization pointed out that this was 37,000 barrels per day more than the previous week’s average.

“Refineries operated at 86 percent of their operable capacity last week,” the EIA said in the report.

“Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.8 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production increased by 211,000 barrels per day last week, averaging 4.7 million barrels per day,” it added.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.9 million barrels per day last week, the EIA noted in the report. It pointed out that this was an increase of 873,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

“Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 5.6 million barrels per day, 7.3 percent less than the same four-week period last year,” the EIA said in the report.

“Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 588,000 barrels per day, and distillate fuel imports averaged 104,000 barrels per day,” it added.

Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.3 million barrels a day, down by 1.2 percent from the same period last year, the EIA stated in the report.

“Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.7 million barrels a day, down by 2.1 percent from the same as the last year period,” the EIA added in the report.

“Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 3.8 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, down by 1.7 percent from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied was up 6.2 percent compared with the same four-week period last 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 6.2 million barrels for the week ending October 31.

“This follows a 6.9 million barrel draw in the prior week, with the crude balance realizing significantly tighter than our expectations,” the Macquarie strategists said in that report.

In its previous weekly petroleum status report, which was released on October 29 and included data for the week ending October 24, the EIA highlighted that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the SPR, decreased by 6.9 million barrels from the week ending October 17 to the week ending October 24.

The EIA’s next weekly petroleum status report is scheduled to be released on November 13. It will include data for the week ending November 7.

Although the White House website highlights that the U.S. government has been shut down for more than 36 days, 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 EIA describes itself on its site as the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. The organization notes on its site that it collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.

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