Energy

Crude Oil Price Tumbles Following Inventory Report

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report Thursday morning. U.S. commercial crude inventories decreased by 2.2 million barrels last week, maintaining a total U.S. commercial crude inventory of 524.4 million barrels. The commercial crude inventory remains at historically high levels for this time of year, according to the EIA.

Wednesday evening the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that crude inventories fell by 6.7 million barrels in the week ending July 1. API also reported gasoline supplies fell by 3.6 million barrels and distillate supplies dropped by 2.3 million barrels. For the same period, analysts had estimated a decrease of around 2.3 million barrels in crude inventories along with a decline of 353,000 barrels in gasoline supplies and a 31,000-barrel increase in distillates.

Total gasoline inventories decreased by 100,000 barrels last week, according to the EIA, and remain well above the upper limit of the five-year average range. Total motor gasoline supplied (the agency’s measure of consumption) averaged about 9.8 million barrels a day for the past four weeks, up by 2.5% compared with the same period a year ago.

Pump prices continue falling and with them refining profits. Gasoline stockpiles are 21 million barrels (9.6%) higher than they were a year ago. Distillate (diesel fuel, heating oil) stocks are 8.4% higher than at the same time last year.

The situation is not normal for this time of year. The summer driving season typically sees a demand surge that draws down inventories. And while it is still early days for the driving season, refiners also had a tough first quarter, with the 10 largest independent refiners booking a combined net profit of $944 million, down 74% year over year. Estimates for second-quarter profits are also lagging, indicating that matching 2015’s $10 billion profit among the group is approaching an impossibility.

Before the EIA report, benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for August delivery traded up about 0.9% at around $47.85 a barrel and dropped below $47.00 shortly after the report’s release. WTI crude settled at $47.43 on Wednesday. The 52-week range on August futures is $32.22 to $57.98.

Distillate inventories decreased by 1.6 million barrels last week and also remain well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Distillate product supplied averaged over 3.9 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, up by 1.5% when compared with the same period last year. Distillate production averaged about 5 million barrels a day last week, about flat compared with the prior week.

For the past week, crude imports averaged about 8.4 million barrels a day, up by about 808,000 barrels a day compared with the previous week. Refineries were running at 92.5% of capacity, with daily input averaging 16.7 million barrels, about 8,000 barrels a day less than the previous week’s average.

According to AAA, the current national average pump price per gallon of regular gasoline is $2.258, down from $2.288 a week ago and down nearly 10 cents compared with the month-ago price. Last year at this time, a gallon of regular gasoline cost $2.763 on average in the United States.

Here is a look at how share prices for two blue-chip stocks and two exchange traded funds reacted to this latest report.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded down 0.9%, at $93.21 in a 52-week range of $66.55 to $94.49. The high was posted Thursday morning. Over the past 12 months, Exxon stock has traded up about 13.5% and is down about 8.8% since August 2014, as of Tuesday’s close.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) traded down about 0.9%, at $103.61 in a 52-week range of $69.58 to $105.00, and the high was set Thursday morning. As of Tuesday’s close, Chevron shares have added about 9.8% over the past 12 months and trade down about 21.7% since August 2014.

The United States Oil ETF (NYSEMKT: USO) traded down about 0.8%, at $11.24 in a 52-week range of $7.67 to $17.91.

The Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (NYSEMKT: OIH) traded up about 1.7% to $28.99, in a 52-week range of $20.46 to $34.15.

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