Energy

Crude Oil Price Sinks on Huge Inventory Increase

153715598
Source: Thinkstock
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report Wednesday morning. U.S. commercial crude inventories increased by 10.9 million barrels last week, maintaining a total U.S. commercial crude inventory of 482.4 million barrels, the 12th consecutive week of a higher total than at any time in at least 80 years.

Crude oil for May delivery had risen sharply from a low of around $48 a barrel last week to nearly $54 a barrel on Tuesday. Then the Saudis announced production of 10.3 million barrels a day in March and promised to keep production at around 10 million barrels. That cooled prices down a little, as did the announced agreement with Iran over that country’s nuclear development program. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed at $53.98 on Tuesday.

Total gasoline inventories increased by 800,000 barrels last week and remain well above the upper limit of the five-year average range. Total motor gasoline supplied (the EIA’s measure of consumption) averaged about 9 million barrels a day for the past four weeks, up by 2% compared with the same period a year ago.

ALSO READ: U.S. Summer Gasoline Prices Projected at 11-Year Low

Distillate inventories decreased by 300,000 barrels last week and remain in the lower half of the average range. Distillate product supplied averaged more than 3.9 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, up by 2.7% when compared with the same period last year. Distillate production averaged about 5 million barrels a day last week, around 100,000 barrels a day higher compared with the prior week’s production.

Tuesday evening, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that crude inventories rose by a massive 12.2 million barrels, gasoline inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels and distillate inventories rose by 331,000 barrels in the week ending April 3. For the same period, analysts had estimated an increase of 3.4 million barrels in crude inventories, a drop of 1.3 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles and a rise of 900,000 barrels in distillate inventories.

Before the EIA report, WTI crude for May delivery was trading down about 2.4% at around $52.75 a barrel Wednesday morning. The WTI price slipped further to around $52.45 (down about 2.8% for the day) immediately after the report was released. The 52-week range on WTI futures is $44.03 to $98.87.

For the past week, crude imports averaged over 8.2 million barrels a day, up by 869,000 barrels a day compared with the previous week. Refineries were running at 90.1% of capacity, with daily input of more than 15.9 million barrels, about 201,000 barrels a day above the previous week’s average. Refinery utilization continues to rise as refiners meet both domestic and export demand for refined products.

According to AAA, the current national average pump price per gallon of regular gasoline is $2.388, down from $2.407 a week ago and from $2.454 a month ago. Last year a gallon of regular cost $3.586 on average in the United States.

ALSO READ: RBC’s 4 Top U.S. Energy Stock Picks to Buy

Here is a look at how share prices for two exchange traded funds reacted to this latest report.

The United States Oil ETF (NYSEMKT: USO) traded down about 2.6%, at $18.58 in a 52-week range of $15.61 to $39.44. The low was set earlier in the day.

The Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (NYSEMKT: OIH) traded down about 0.8%, at $35.22 in a 52-week range of $31.51 to $58.01.

Sponsored: Want to Retire Early? Here’s a Great First Step

Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Or are you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?

Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.

Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.