The report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that total crude oil and petroleum products (ex. SPR) stocks slumped -7.58 mmb to 1271.01 mmb in the week ended March 6. Crude oil inventory soared +7.66 mmb (consensus: +2.27 mmb) to 451.78 mmb. Stockpile rose in 3 out of 5 PADDs. PADD 3 (Gulf Coast) alone saw huge build of 6.12 mmb. Cushing stock added +0.7 mmb to 37.88 mmb. Utilization rate slipped -0.5 percentage point to 86.4% while crude production dropped -0.1M bpd to 13M bpd for the week. Crude oil imports were up +0.17M bpd to 6.41M bpd in the week.
Concerning refined oil product inventories, gasoline inventory fell -5.05 mmb to 247 mmb as demand added +2.86% to 8.72M bpd. The market had anticipated a +0.55 mmb increase in stockpile. Production gained +2.93% to 9.99 bpd while imports soared +38.97% to 0.71M bpd during the week. Distillate inventory declined -6.4 mmb to 128.06 mmb. The market had anticipated a -1.91 mmb decrease. Demand rose +12.22% to 4.4 Mbpd. Production added +1.23% to 4.71 mmb while imports surged +146.4% to 0.31M bpd during the week.
Released after market close on Wednesday, the industry-sponsored API estimated that crude oil inventory jumped +6.4 mmb during the week. For refined oil products, gasoline stockpile decreased +3.1 mmb while distillate dropped -4.7 mmb.
