Economists surveyed by Bloomberg news offered a consensus estimate for a weekly inventory gain of 1.5 million barrels. The smaller gain is still likely to push prices down because the total inventory grew by about 1 million barrels in the week ending March 2nd.
Total gasoline inventories fell by 400,000 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 -7.8% compared to the same period last year. Total motor gasoline supplied averaged just under 8.4 million barrels/day for the four weeks.
For the past week, crude imports averaged 8.7 million barrels/day, down by 18,000 barrels/day from the previous week. Refineries were running at 83.9% of capacity, with daily input of nearly 14.6 million barrels/day, down by 18,000 barrels/day from the previous week.
Higher inventories and the decline in gasoline supplied indicate demand continues to fall in the US. Lower import levels are likely a sign that refinery turnarounds are beginning as the refiners make the switch from winter to summer fuel.
According to gasbuddy.com, US gasoline prices average $3.716/gallon today, compared with a pump price of $3.689 a week ago.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks