Informist, Thursday, Mar. 27, 2025

MUMBAI – Crude oil inventories in the US, excluding those in the strategic petroleum reserves, fell 3.3 million barrels from the previous week to 433.6 million barrels in the week ended Friday, the US Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. Analysts at Dow Jones had expected the stocks to rise 1 million barrels. US crude oil inventories were about 5?low the five-year average for this time of the year, the report said.

Petrol inventories fell 1.4 million barrels from the previous week to 239.1 million barrels, against a fall of 1.8 million barrels predicted by analysts polled by Dow Jones. Petrol stocks were 2?ove the five-year average for this time of the year, the report said. Distillate fuel stocks fell by 400,000 barrels to 114.4 million barrels in the week ended Friday, while Dow Jones' analysts had expected a fall of 800,000 barrels. Distillate fuel stocks were about 7?low the five-year average for this time of the year.

Refinery utilisation rose slightly to 87% compared with 86.9% the previous week, according to the report. Crude oil production in the US, the largest producer of the commodity, fell marginally to 13.57 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday.

At 1257 IST, the most-active May contract of West Texas Intermediate crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 0.4% at $69.40 per barrel.

US crude oil imports averaged 6.2 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday, up 810,000 barrels per day from the previous week, the report showed. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports have averaged about 5.7 million barrels per day, 11% lower than the corresponding period last year.

Of the top 10 countries that export crude oil to the US, imports from six countries rose during the week. Imports of crude oil from Canada rose the most, by 849,000 barrels per day to 3.98 million barrels per day. Imports from Mexico rose 198,000 barrels per day to 393,000 barrels per day and imports from Brazil were up 178,000 barrels per day at 241,000 barrels per day.

Crude oil imports from Colombia fell 159,000 barrels per day to 190,000 barrels per day, and imports from Venezuela fell 123,000 barrels per day to 195,000 barrels per day, the report showed.

For the week ended Friday, crude oil exports from the US fell 35,000 barrels per day to 4.61 million barrels per day, the report showed. The strategic petroleum reserve rose 200,000 barrels to 396.1 million barrels during the week.

Inventories of crude oil in Cushing, Oklahoma, a key delivery point for West Texas Intermediate crude, fell 800,000 barrels to 22.7 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 85.77

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

Reported by Ashutosh Pati

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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