Crude Inventories Decline By 3.7 Million Barrels

On July 24, 2024, EIA released its Weekly Petroleum Status Report. The report indicated that crude inventories declined by 3.7 million barrels from the previous week, compared to analyst consensus of -2.05 million barrels.  At current levels, crude inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of the year.

Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 5.6 million barrels, compared to analyst forecast of -0.9 million. Distillate fuel inventories declined by 2.8 million barrels.

Crude oil imports declined by 166,000 bpd, averaging 6.9 million bpd. According to the report, crude oil imports averaged 6.8 million bpd over the past four weeks.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased from 373.7 million barrels to 374.4 million barrels as U.S. continued to buy oil for reserves.

Domestic oil production remained unchanged at 13.3 million bpd. Most likely, production will not grow in the near term due to the recent pullback in the oil markets.

WTI oil settled near the $77.50 level as traders reacted to the report. The report was bullish as crude inventories and gasoline inventories decreased, highlighting strong demand for energy. However, the market is worried about the problems of China’s economy, so it remains to be seen whether WTI oil will be able to gain upside momentum after the release of the EIA report.

Brent oil is trading near the $81.50 level as traders react to the EIA data.

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