DOE CRUDE STATS
| May 18, 2011
A week in the life of the US oil market
Stocks drew in both of the NYMEX storage centers, with crude -1.59m bbl lower in Cushing and total mogas down -0.7m bbl along the East Coast, though US crude stocks were flat on the week at 370.3m bbl. Crude imports rose 129 kb/d on a four-week average basis but continue to fall further below year-ago levels. A 490 kb/d drop in PADD III crude imports may reflect floodwaters interfering with offloading. Meanwhile, a 239 kb/d increase in crude runs, the bulk of it coming in PADD III , sug.....
DOE CRUDE STATS
| May 11, 2011
Life in the fast lane
This week’s numbers furthered an intense intraday sell-off in spot RBOB on the NYMEX , which appears likely to settle around 8% lower on the day. The DOE gasoline data catalyzed the collapse, though the reduced threat of flooding on the Gulf refinery complex also appeared to factor into the move. The market has been searching for tell-tale signs of the effect of soaring retail gasoline prices on demand going into the summer, with the uncertainty magnifying the price impact of today’s data. .....
DOE CRUDE STATS
| May 04, 2011
A lesson in contrasts
This week’s DOE numbers show patterns in critical inventory numbers that are as contrasting as they are market-impacting. Commercial crude oil inventories, which are just 8.7m bbl under the all-time record high hit in 2009, built +3.4m bbl to 366.5m bbl, while gasoline stocks continued to plummet in PADD I and across the county. PADD I gasoline stocks drew -1.7m bbl to 48.0m bbl, and are now at their lowest level since Oct. 2008. Underlying the week’s crude build was a 389 kb/d slowdown in.....
DOE CRUDE STATS
| April 27, 2011
The crude also rises
The size of the +6.2m bbl headline build this week surprised to the upside. The build was the largest since July 2010. Driving the build in crude stocks was a 1.2 mb/d jump in crude imports, which rose to 9.3 mb/d, while crude runs were little changed at 14.1 mb/d. What is particularly significant about the build is that it more than offsets last week’s much-vaunted -2.3m bbl draw. The headline crude build stands in contrast to the -0.7m bbl draw in Cushing. Barring a repeat of the summer of 201.....
DOE CRUDE STATS
| April 20, 2011
Gasoline's spring cleaning
Gasoline inventories are in the spotlight again this week, drawing -1.6m bbl to come to 51.3m bbl and chalking up the eighth straight week of declines. The draw brings the last two weeks’ inventory drop to 8.8m bbl, after last week’s exceptional -7.0m bbl draw. Gasoline stocks now stand 16.8m bbl lower yoy. Despite the stock draw, apparent gasoline demand declined 0.12 mb/d to 9.06 mb/d. Four-week average gasoline demand remains depressed below even the weak levels of 2009, due in part to the fa.....
DOE CRUDE STATS
| April 13, 2011
Gasoline's vanishing act
The most notable data point from this week’s DOE stats was a whopping -7.0m bbl draw in total gasoline stocks, the largest since Oct. 1998, which reduced US gasoline storage to 209.7m bbl. Although a gasoline draw this time of year is hardly unusual—US inventories of the product have been on a continuous weekly decline since Feb. 11—the size of the draw may be extraordinary enough to give pause to predictions that sky-high retail prices around the country have destroyed gasoline demand. But th.....
DOE CRUDE STATS
| April 06, 2011
Pain at the pump?
Apparent demand gasoline demand weakened this week, falling 112 kb/d below year-ago levels on a four-week average basis. Domestic mogas demand may be sitting on shaky ground—a fact that may have been obscured recently in the weekly data by strong exports. Although a drop in exports may be partly responsible for the fall in apparent demand, economic forces are likely dampening domestic gasoline demand, such as soaring retail prices and a hurting American consumer. Meanwhile, crude production in t.....
DOE CRUDE STATS
| March 30, 2011
Cushing springs forward
Cushing stocks leapt +1.7m bbl higher to 41.9m bbl, the highest since the DOE begin keeping records at the NYMEX pricing hub in 2004. Stocks now sit 1.6m bbl higher than the previous record of two weeks ago and eclipse year-ago levels by a full 11.0m bbl. Although the past 5 weeks have witnessed a sharp build in Cushing inventories, the scale of the build is comparable to a similar build last year that took place from mid-March through mid-May. But relative to that build, this year’s is off .....
DOE CRUDE STATS
| March 23, 2011
Gasoline on the March
DOE CRUDE STATS Gasoline on the March Headline gasoline inventories drew a whopping -5.3m bbl this week, reflecting apparent demand that has recovered substantially since early February and is now comfortably within the pre-recession range. The drop in total gasoline storage is the latest in a -21.4m bbl slide over the last five weeks. Finished mogas stocks drew -1.7m bbl to 67.0m bbl. While the drop in gasoline inventories is typical on a seasonal basis, the rate of the draw has been fa.....
DOE CRUDE STATS
| March 16, 2011
An undemanding week for products
DOE CRUDE STATS An undemanding week for products Motor gasoline and distillate stocks fell this week, though crude saw a net build, as runs increased and crude imports poured into PADD III . Total commercial inventories in the US drew -5.1m bbl, owing to the general decline in product stocks. US commercial inventories have declined rapidly since their peak this year of 1.08b bbl the first week of February, which was an all-time seasonal high. Apparent finished motor gasoline demand fe.....