US Petroleum Inventories Continue Rising

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By Paul Ausick Published

The US Energy Information Administration released its weekly petroleum status report this morning. US commercial crude inventories rose by 5 million barrels last week, bringing the total US commercial crude inventory to 334.6 million barrels, above the upper limit of the five-year range.

Total gasoline inventories rose by 3.6 million barrels last week and remain above the five-year average range. Over the last four weeks, gasoline supplied has declined by -6.5% compared to the same period last year. Total motor gasoline supplied averaged 8.6 million barrels/day for the four weeks.

For the past week, crude imports totaled 9.9 million barrels/day, up 883,000 barrels/day from the previous week. Refineries were running at 85.6% of capacity, with daily input of 14.9 million barrels/day, up 181,000 barrels/day from the previous week.

The large increase in imports could presage an increase in gasoline and diesel refining for export. As US demand slips, refiners can keep profits up by exporting more products.

According to gasbuddy.com, US gasoline prices average $3.34/gallon today, compared with a price of $3.30 a week ago.

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About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

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