U.S. Oil Inventories Decrease, but Domestic Production Reaches Three-Year High

According to data released on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration, U.S. oil inventories experienced a significant decrease last week due to increased activity from refiners. However, domestic crude production reached a three-year high.

Despite this mixed report, benchmark U.S. oil prices remained relatively stable. The Nymex front-month crude contract for September delivery only saw a minor decline of 0.2%, settling at $80.80 per barrel.

The EIA revealed that commercial crude-oil stockpiles saw a substantial drop of 6 million barrels, reaching 439.7 million barrels in total. This figure now stands 1% below the five-year average. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted a smaller decline of 1.7 million barrels compared to the prior week.

Cushing, Okla., which serves as the delivery point for U.S. stocks, also experienced a decrease in oil storage. The EIA reported that oil stored at Cushing fell by 837,000 barrels from the previous week, reaching a total of 33.8 million barrels.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude-oil production rose by 100,000 barrels per day compared to the previous week, reaching a total of 12.7 million barrels per day. This marks the highest output in weekly data since March 27, 2020, just before the pandemic took hold.

Gasoline stockpiles also saw a slight decrease of 262,000 barrels, totaling 216.2 million barrels. However, this decline fell short of analysts' expectations, who predicted a larger decrease of 1.2 million barrels.

On the other hand, distillate stocks, mainly consisting of diesel fuel, increased by 296,000 barrels to reach 115.7 million barrels. Despite this increase, distillates inventories are currently about 16% below the five-year average. Analysts had forecasted a minor decrease of 100,000 barrels for distillates inventories last week.

The refining capacity utilization rate experienced a notable increase of 0.9 percentage points compared to the previous week, reaching 94.7%. This surpassed expectations for a smaller increase of 0.3 percentage points.

Here are the U.S. oil inventories for the week ended August 11:

• Crude: -6.0 million barrels
• Gasoline: -0.3 million barrels
• Distillates: +0.3 million barrels
• Refinery Use: +0.9 percentage points

Note: All values are in millions of barrels, except for refinery use, which is indicated in percentage points.