U.S. Crude Inventories Rise Just 95,000 Barrels as Gasoline and Distillate Stocks Fall Sharply

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories were almost unchanged last week, rising by just 95,000 barrels, while gasoline and distillate stocks posted much larger declines. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report showed commercial crude stocks at 428.910 million barrels for the week ended August 21, up from 428.815 million a week earlier.

The small crude build contrasted with a 2.536 million-barrel draw in total motor gasoline inventories and a 2.228 million-barrel decline in distillate stocks. Gasoline inventories fell to 206.842 million barrels, while distillates dropped to 103.391 million. EIA said gasoline stocks were 6% below their five-year average for this time of year and distillate inventories were about 14% below the seasonal average.

The report therefore showed a split petroleum balance. Commercial crude supply remained relatively comfortable, sitting about 1% above its five-year average, while two of the most important refined-fuel categories remained comparatively lean. Refineries were still running hard, operating at 97.4% of operable capacity during the week.

Crude Stocks Barely Move After Several Weeks of Builds

The 95,000-barrel increase was small enough to round to 0.1 million barrels in EIA’s headline summary, but the agency’s detailed stocks table shows the exact move from 428.815 million to 428.910 million barrels. That followed larger increases earlier in August and kept commercial crude inventories above their level in late July.

The national change also concealed sizable regional shifts. Crude stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 1.176 million barrels to 22.428 million. Midwest inventories increased by 813,000 barrels and West Coast stocks rose by 991,000. Those gains were partly offset by a 2.220 million-barrel draw on the Gulf Coast, while Rocky Mountain stocks edged lower.

Trade flows were somewhat less supportive of a build than in the prior week. U.S. crude imports averaged 6.158 million barrels per day, down 435,000 barrels per day, while crude exports fell by 274,000 barrels per day to 3.792 million. Net crude imports therefore declined by 161,000 barrels per day.

Domestic crude production edged higher by 13,000 barrels per day to 13.843 million. Refinery crude inputs were essentially unchanged at 17.393 million barrels per day, just 1,000 barrels per day below the previous week. With refineries operating at 97.4% of capacity, crude processing remained elevated despite the near-flat commercial inventory total.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve moved in the opposite direction from commercial stocks. SPR holdings fell by 3.700 million barrels to 289.726 million. Including the reserve, total crude inventories declined by about 3.6 million barrels even though commercial stocks registered the small increase highlighted in the market-facing data.

Gasoline and Distillate Inventories Drop Further

Refined-product stocks showed much larger weekly changes. Total motor gasoline inventories fell to 206.842 million barrels from 209.378 million, a decline of 2.536 million. The draw left gasoline stocks 7.0% below their year-earlier level in addition to being 6% below the five-year seasonal average.

Both major components of the gasoline total declined. Conventional finished gasoline stocks fell by 755,000 barrels, while gasoline blending components dropped by 1.785 million. Fuel ethanol inventories increased slightly, but not enough to offset the larger decline in petroleum-based gasoline stocks.

Distillate fuel oil inventories fell to 103.391 million barrels from 105.619 million, a 2.228 million-barrel draw. The low-sulfur category that includes most highway diesel accounted for nearly all of the move, falling by 2.133 million barrels to 93.590 million. Total distillate stocks were 9.5% below the comparable week a year ago.

The gasoline and distillate draws came even with refinery utilization close to full capacity. EIA said gasoline production increased during the week to about 9.8 million barrels per day, while distillate fuel production decreased to about 5.1 million barrels per day. The difference between crude availability and refined-product stocks shows why the crude headline alone does not describe the entire supply picture.

Other petroleum categories offset much of the fuel draws at the aggregate level. Propane and propylene inventories rose by 2.470 million barrels, residual fuel oil stocks increased by 922,000, and other oils gained 1.797 million. Total commercial petroleum stocks excluding the SPR therefore increased by only about 59,000 barrels despite the sizable gasoline and distillate declines.

High Refinery Runs Meet Softer Four-Week Demand

The demand indicators were mixed. Total products supplied over the latest four weeks averaged 20.523 million barrels per day, down 3.0% from the same period a year earlier. EIA uses products supplied as an approximation of petroleum demand, so the four-week comparison points to softer overall consumption even as some weekly figures strengthened.

Motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.932 million barrels per day over four weeks, down 1.1% from a year earlier. Distillate product supplied averaged 3.798 million, down 2.2%, while jet fuel product supplied was 2.3% lower. Those comparisons suggest that the low inventory levels are not simply the result of broad demand acceleration across the major fuels.

The latest single-week data were stronger for gasoline. Finished motor gasoline supplied rose by 355,000 barrels per day to 9.043 million. Distillate product supplied slipped by 113,000 barrels per day to 3.839 million. That weekly mix helps explain how gasoline stocks could fall sharply even though gasoline production increased.

Fuel prices were elevated heading into the report. EIA put the national average retail price for regular gasoline at $4.085 per gallon on August 24, up 3.6 cents from the prior week and 93.8 cents from a year earlier. The national average diesel price rose 19.8 cents to $5.652 per gallon, $1.944 above its year-earlier level.

EIA’s next Weekly Petroleum Status Report is scheduled for September 2. That release will show whether commercial crude inventories continue to build only gradually and whether gasoline and distillate stocks begin to recover from levels that remain well below their five-year seasonal averages.