News

U.S. Crude Oil Inventories Decline, Gasoline Inventories Surge

James L. Flint

• October 04, 2023

By Dan Molinski

U.S. inventories of crude oil saw a significant drop last week, while gasoline inventories experienced their largest weekly increase since early 2022, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.

Crude Oil Inventories

Commercial crude-oil stockpiles declined by 2.2 million barrels last week to 414.1 million barrels, which is 5% below the five-year average, as reported by the EIA. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted no change in crude stockpiles from the prior week. At the delivery point for U.S. stocks in Cushing, Oklahoma, oil inventories rose by 132,000 barrels from the previous week to 22.1 million barrels.

Gasoline Inventories

In contrast, gasoline stockpiles saw a significant jump of 6.5 million barrels, reaching a total of 227 million barrels. This increase far exceeded analysts' expectations of only a 300,000-barrel rise. It marks the largest weekly increase since January 7, 2022, when gasoline stockpiles rose by 8 million barrels.

Distillate Inventories

The EIA reported that distillate stocks, primarily consisting of diesel fuel, fell by 1.3 million barrels to 118.8 million barrels. This puts distillates inventories approximately 13% below the five-year average. Analysts had forecasted a decrease of 400,000 barrels in distillates inventories for the week.

Refining Capacity Utilization Rate

The refining capacity utilization rate saw a decline of 2.2 percentage points from the previous week, dropping to 87.3%. This decrease exceeded expectations for only a 0.3-percentage-point decrease.

These inventories and utilization rates reflect the state of U.S. oil production for the week ended September 29, with no change in crude-oil production from the previous week, remaining stable at a three-and-a-half-year high of 12.9 million barrels a day.

U.S. Oil Inventories for the Week Ended September 29:

Crude: -2.2 million barrels (unchanged forecast) Gasoline: +6.5 million barrels (+0.3 million barrels forecast) Distillates: -1.3 million barrels (-0.4 million barrels forecast) Refinery Use: -2.2 percentage points (-0.3 percentage points forecast)

Note: Numbers are reported in millions of barrels, except for refinery use, which is expressed in percentage points.