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Informist, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024

MUMBAI – US crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 1.8 million barrels from the previous week to 428.4 million barrels in the week ended Friday. Analysts at Dow Jones had expected a fall of 500,000 barrels. US crude oil stocks are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of the year, the US Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report Wednesday.

Petrol inventories rose 3.3 million barrels from the previous week to 212.2 million barrels and were about 3% below the five-year average for this time of the year. Analysts at Dow Jones expected petrol stocks to fall by 600,000 barrels. Distillate fuel inventories rose by 400,000 barrels to 114.7 million barrels in the week ended Friday, while Dow Jones analysts expected a rise of 300,000 barrels. Distillate fuel stocks were about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Refinery utilisation rose to 90.5% in the week from 90.2% the previous week, according to the report. Crude oil output in the US, the largest producer of the commodity, rose 292,000 barrels per day to 13.5 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday.

At 1318 IST, the most-active January contract of West Texas Intermediate crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 0.2% at $68.57 per barrel. Crude oil prices fell Thursday as concern over supply disruptions from the oil-rich region in West Asia eased on the back of Israel's agreement to a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.

US crude oil imports averaged 6.1 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday, down 1.6 million barrels per day from the previous week, the report showed. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports have averaged about 6.6 million barrels per day, up 5.5% from the corresponding period last year. 

Of the top 10 countries that export crude oil to the US, imports from five countries fell during the week. Crude oil imports by the US from Mexico fell the most by 617,000 barrels per day to 151,000 barrels per day. Imports of crude oil from Colombia fell by 272,000 barrels per day to 142,000 barrels per day and imports from Brazil fell 271,000 barrels per day to 227,000 barrels per day, the report showed. Crude oil imports by the US from Ecuador fell by 236,000 barrels per day to 118,000 barrels per day while those from Canada rose by 219,000 barrels per day to 4.1 million barrels per day.

US crude oil exports rose 285,000 barrels per day to 4.66 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday, the report showed. Strategic Petroleum Reserves in the US rose 1.2 million barrels to 390.4 million barrels during the week.

Inventory of crude oil in Cushing, Oklahoma, a key delivery point for West Texas Intermediate crude, fell by 900,000 barrels to 24.1 million barrels in the week ended Friday, according to the report. Cushing is the designated delivery point for NYMEX crude oil futures contracts. Market participants closely monitor stockpiles in Cushing, as it has a storage capacity of about 90 million barrels.

End

US$1 = INR 84.49

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Reported by Ashutosh Pati

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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