Following API's surprisingly large drawdowns, DOE almost completely refuted it with an inventory build for gasoline and a very small draw for crude. WTI and RBOB prices dropped on the headlines, not helped by yet another increase in US crude production to cycle highs.
API
- Crude -4.158mm (-3.5mm exp) - biggest since 2016
- Cushing -215k
- Gasoline -1.93mm (+1mm exp)
- Distillates -436k
DOE
- Crude -930k (-3mm exp)
- Cushing -728k (-900k exp)
- Gasoline +191k (+1mm exp)
- Distillates -562k (+2mm exp)
3rd weekly build for gasoline and notably small draw for crude...
Total commercial crude stocks fell -0.9 million bbl to 528 million bbl in the last week; still above the 10 year range for this time of year.
Crude imports slowed to 8.3 million bpd last week from 8.9 million bpd the prior week.
US Crude exports (which had helped shift the glut offshore) tumbled in the last week.
Meanwhile gasoline demand is falling.
Refinery throughput declined modestly, to 17.2mmbpd from 17.3mmbpd in the last week, as Reuters shows:
Bloomberg's Javier Blas comments that oil bulls had been weeks waiting for Saudi Arabia output cuts to show up. But don't look for them on U.S. imports figures. They aren't to be found. For the third consecutive week, Saudi Arabia has shipped in excess of one million barrels a day into the U.S. (precisely 1.095 million b/d, slightly down from previous weeks of 1.191 million b/d, but up from late March nd early April levels ). Saudi Arabia shipped more crude into the U.S. in April 2017 than it did in the same month of 2016.
US Crude production rosae once again to August 2015 highs...
Both WTI and RBOB had faded some of the bounce after last night's API data before DOE data hit, but the surprise build in gasoline (and small draw in crude) sent prices tumblimg...