Informist, Thursday, Apr. 3, 2025

MUMBAI – Crude oil inventories in the US, excluding those in the strategic petroleum reserves, rose by 6.2 million barrels from the previous week to 439.8 million barrels in the week ended Friday, the US Energy Information Administration said in a weekly report. Analysts at Dow Jones had expected the stocks to fall by 700,000 barrels. US crude oil inventories were about 4?low the five-year average for this time of the year, the report said.

Petrol inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels from the previous week to 237.6 million barrels, against a fall of 1.4 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 rose by 300,000 barrels to 114.6 million barrels in the week ended Friday, while Dow Jones' analysts had expected a fall of 600,000 barrels. Distillate fuel stocks were about 6?low the five-year average for this time of the year.

Refinery utilisation fell to 86% from 87% the previous week, according to the report. Crude oil production in the US, the largest producer of the commodity, rose by 6,000 barrels per day to 13.58 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday.

At 1327 IST, the most-active May contract of West Texas Intermediate crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 3.2% at $69.42 per barrel. Crude oil prices fell as US President Donald Trump's announcement of retaliatory tariffs led to fear of a global economic slowdown, which could reduce demand for oil.

US crude oil imports averaged 6.5 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday, up 271,000 barrels per day from the previous week, as per the report. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports have averaged about 5.9 million barrels per day, 6.3% lower than the corresponding period last year.

Of the top 10 countries that export crude oil to the US, imports from eight countries rose during the week. Imports of crude oil from Canada rose the most, by 439,000 barrels per day to 4.4 million barrels per day. Imports from Saudi Arabia rose by 84,000 barrels per day to 227,000 barrels per day, and imports from Libya rose by 64,000 barrels per day to 150,000 barrels per day.

Crude oil imports from Iraq declined by 71,000 barrels per day to 132,000 barrels per day, and imports from Nigeria fell by 34,000 barrels per day to 51,000 barrels per day, the report showed.

For the week ended Friday, crude oil exports from the US fell by 728,000 barrels per day to 3.88 million barrels per day, the report stated. The strategic petroleum reserve rose by 300,000 barrels to 396.4 million barrels during the week.

Inventories of crude oil in Cushing, Oklahoma, a key delivery point for West Texas Intermediate crude, rose by 2.4 million barrels to 25.1 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 85.57

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

Reported by Ashutosh Pati

Edited by Subhojit Sarkar

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