The U.S. Energy Department's weekly inventory release showed a surprise build-up in crude stockpiles. The agency’s report further revealed that distillate stocks added to their supplies, while gasoline inventories declined for the second-straight week. Meanwhile, refiners reduced processing rates by 0.9%.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) Petroleum Status Report – which contains data for the previous week ending on Friday, outlines information regarding the weekly change in petroleum inventories held and produced by the U.S., both locally and abroad.
The report provides an overview of the level of reserves and their movements, thereby helping investors understand the demand/supply dynamics of petroleum products. It is an indicator of current oil prices and volatility that affect businesses of companies engaged in the oil and refining industry, such as ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Valero (VLO) and Tesoro (TSO).
Crude Oil
The federal government’s EIA report revealed that crude inventories rose by 4.23 million barrels for the week ending August 12, 2011, after shrinking by 5.23 million barrels in the preceding week.
Analysts who had been surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (MHP), had expected oil stocks to go down. A drop in refinery utilization and higher imports led to the stockpile build-up with the world's biggest oil consumer. Millions of barrels of crude released from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (“SPR”) also helped to push commercial crude stocks higher.
However, crude inventories at the Cushing terminal in Oklahoma – the key delivery hub for U.S. crude futures – came off 893,000 barrels from last week’s level to 33.69 million barrels, its lowest level since November. Stocks reached an all-time high of 41.90 million barrels earlier this year.
At 353.98 million barrels, current crude supplies are flat from the year-earlier level but are slightly above the upper limit of the average for this time of the year. The crude supply cover was up from 22.5 days in the previous week to 22.9 days. In the year-ago period, the supply cover was 23.1 days.
Gasoline
Supplies of gasoline decreased for the second consecutive week on the back of lower production, more than offsetting the impacts of higher import levels and weaker demand. The 3.51 million barrels-decline – against projections for a much smaller draw – took gasoline stockpiles down to 210.08 million barrels. The existing inventory level is 5.9% below the year-earlier levels but is in the upper half of the average range.
Distillate
Distillate fuel inventories (including diesel and heating oil) were up by 2.45 million barrels last week, compared with analyst expectations for a smaller build. The increase in distillate fuel supplies can be attributed to higher production and tepid demand. At 153.97 million barrels, distillate supplies are 11.6% less than the year-ago level but are in the upper boundary of the average range at this time of the year.
Refinery Rates
Refinery utilization was down 0.9% from the prior week to 89.1%. Analysts were expecting the refinery run rate to decrease 0.7% to 89.3%.
CONOCOPHILLIPS (COP): Free Stock Analysis Report
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