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Informist, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025

MUMBAI – Crude oil inventories in the US, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, rose 8.7 million barrels from the previous week to 423.8 million barrels in the week ended Friday, while analysts at Dow Jones had expected a rise of 1.3 million barrels. US crude oil inventories were about 5% below the five-year average for this time of the year, the US Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report on Wednesday.

Petrol inventories rose 2.2 million barrels from the previous week to 251.1 million barrels, higher than Dow Jones analysts' expectation of a rise of 100,000 barrels. Petrol stocks were slightly above the five-year average for this time of year. 

Distillate fuel inventories fell 5.5 million barrels to 118.5 million barrels in the week ended Friday, while Dow Jones' analysts had expected a fall of 1.6 million barrels. Distillate fuel stocks were about 12% below the five-year average for this time of the year.

Refinery utilisation rose to 84.5% from 83.5% the previous week, according to the report. Crude oil production in the US, the largest producer of the commodity, rose by 238,000 barrels per day to 13.5 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday, according to the report.

At 1035 IST, the most active March contract of West Texas Intermediate crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 0.2% at $71.16 per barrel.

US crude oil imports averaged 6.9 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday, up 467,000 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 2.8% from the corresponding period last year, the report showed.

Of the top 10 countries from which the US imports crude oil, imports from four countries fell during the week. Crude oil imports by the US from Mexico fell the most, by 372,000 barrels per day to 149,000 barrels per day, while imports from Iraq fell by 236,000 barrels per day to 99,000 barrels per day and from Venezuela fell by 105,000 barrels per day to 214,000 barrels per day. Imports from Colombia fell by 133,000 barrels per day to 150,000 barrels per day.

On the other hand, imports from Libya rose the most to 324,000 barrels per day from nil, and those from Brazil rose by 140,000 barrels per day to 254,000 barrels per day.

US crude oil exports rose by 645,000 barrels per day to 4.3 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday, the report showed. Strategic Petroleum Reserves in the US rose 300,000 barrels to 395.1 million barrels during the week.

Inventories of crude oil in Cushing, Oklahoma, a key delivery point for West Texas Intermediate crude, were steady at 21.0 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 87.54

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

Reported by Taniva Singha Roy

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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