US Petroleum Inventories Rise, Imports Decline

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By Paul Ausick Published

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report this morning. US commercial crude inventories rose by 300,000 barrels last week, bringing the total US commercial crude inventory to 339.2 million barrels, around the upper limit of the five-year range.

Total gasoline inventories rose by 1.6 million barrels last week and remain in the upper limit of the five-year average range. Over the last four weeks, gasoline supplied has declined by -4.8% compared to the same period last year. Total motor gasoline supplied averaged 8 million barrels/day for the four weeks.

For the past week, crude imports totaled just under 8.4 million barrels/day, down by 467,000 barrels/day from the previous week. Refineries were running at 82.8% of capacity, with daily input of nearly 14.4 million barrels/day, up 180,000 barrels/day from the previous week.

Lower import levels and the decline in gasoline supplied indicate weaker US demand. Gasoline production actually increased last week, indicating that US exports of refined products are likely to be rising as well.

According to gasbuddy.com, US gasoline prices average $3.45/gallon today, compared with a price of $3.419 a week ago.

WTI crude is higher today, up 1.26% at $99.65/barrel in mid-morning trading.

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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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