U.S. crude oil stockpiles shrank by 6.1 million bbl during the week leading up to Christmas amid modest increases in demand for both motor gasoline and jet fuel, according to inventory data published Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Crude stockpiles excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve decreased 0.5% to finish at 493.5 million bbl for the week ending Dec. 25, about 11% higher than five-year average levels for the time of year, the agency said in its latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Total motor gasoline inventories shrank by 1.2 million bbl for the week to end at around 1% above the five-year average, while propane/propylene stocks declined 6.4 million bbl to about 3% below the five-year, according to EIA.
A gauge of demand, EIA reported 19.317 million b/d of total petroleum products supplied last week, a 229,000 b/d increase from the previous week. Finished motor gasoline products supplied increased by 107,000 b/d week/week, while jet fuel demand picked up 21,000 b/d.
Still, holiday travel plans disrupted by the pandemic have correlated with a sharp decrease in petroleum demand compared to last year, EIA data show.
Over the previous four-week period, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 7.9 million b/d, a 13.2% decline from last year’s levels; jet fuel product supplied was down 31.8% year/year over the same four-week period, the agency said. Total products supplied over the previous four-week period averaged 19.1 million b/d, down 6.4% year/year, according to EIA.
Lower 48 crude oil production totaled 10.5 million b/d last week, flat with the previous week but down from 12.4 million b/d in the year-ago period, EIA data show.
The United States exported just over 3.6 million b/d last week, 158,000 b/d less than the prior week. Total exports declined by 58,000 b/d for the period, while imports increased by 100,000 b/d, according to EIA.
Analysts at ClearView Energy Partners LLC characterized the latest EIA inventory report as showing a “relatively strong finish to a weak year.” The firm noted that total products supplied came in only around 3% below year-ago levels.
“Major contributors to the strong year-on-year demand showing included propane/propylene (up about 33%) and distillate (up around 18%) despite significant year/year weakness in gasoline and jet fuel,” the ClearView analysts said.
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