EIA: US crude inventories registered another large drop as export surged.
Even though the rig count in the US continued to fall for the eighth consecutive week, the country churned out 12.7 million bpd of crude, hitting the highest levels since March 2020.
The weekly petroleum report released by the Energy Information Administration for the week ending 11 August 2023 showed a 6 million barrel drop in the US commercial crude inventories, stemming from continued rising export activities and higher refinery run rates.
Currently at 439.7 million barrels, the US crude oil stocks are about 1% below the five-year average for this time of the year.
The US exported an average of 4.5 million barrels per day of crude oil last week – the largest since August 2022, which resulted in a drop of 1.76 million barrels per day in net import compared to the previous week.
Refineries in the nation continued to ramp up their run rates and were operating at 94.7% of their operable capacity, up from 93.8% in the previous week.
Total motor gasoline decreased by 0.3 million barrels, about 6% below the five-year average. Inversely, distillate fuels increased by 0.3 million barrels, 16% below the five-year average while propane/propylene inventories clocked up by 0.7 million barrels, 21% above the five-year average.
Even though the rig count in the US continued to fall for the eighth consecutive week, the country churned out 12.7 million bpd of crude, hitting the highest levels since March 2020.