Previous Reports
Welcome to this week’s Thirsty Thursday: An Inventory Report. With Easter just a few days in the rearview mirror I thought we would drink a Peeptini today. I know I know, it sounds weird, but it may surprise you! Made with a peep, vodka, and a few other ingredients it that might seem odd but sure make it look good. I couldn’t find a royalty-free image of a peep cocktail so here’s a more generic looking one.
Crude Oil Stocks
The EIA had forecasted a draw of a mere 583,000 barrels of crude this week while the reported number is close in absolute value, it goes in the other direction. This week the EIA saw a build of nearly 600,000 barrels of crude.
It isn’t too often that the API forecasts a number more conservative than the actual reported value for that week, but here we are. The API forecasted a draw of 1.3 million barrels on the nose, however, reported an actual build value of 377,000 barrels of crude.
It seems the swings in stockpiles have cooled off since the high highs of January and February. There hasn’t been a build or draw of more 7.5 million barrels since February 23.
Oil and Natural Gas Prices
The OPEC cuts have had a lasting effect on oil prices as both WTI and Brent jumped this week by around $2. WTI is sitting right around $80.91, while Brent is at $85.39.
Natural gas hasn’t hit its stride yet but I’m sure it will at some point in the year. For now natural gas is $2.018, just barely in the $2 range.
Fuels Market
The summer fuel blend has been reintroduced to gas stations across the country now which is much cheaper than the winter blend. That said, the price of gas has increased for a consecutive week, more than likely due to the increase in the price of crude. Demand is also strong lately as beautiful weather plagues the country.
Gasoline got about 7 cents more expensive compared to the previous week. California is dangerously close to breaking $5 gasoline, while Mississippi still claims cheapest gas in the nation.
Diesel basically remained the same price but technically increased by 0.1 cents. Distillate stocks, an excellent proxy for diesel stocks, are down but still within their 5-year range. Propane and propylene stocks are trending downwards too, however, they are right on track with what is typical for this time of year.
Crude Oil Imports/Exports
Due to the sporadic and distant updates on import/export data, this section of the report will only be updated when the EIA updates its information too, and it looks like the EIA has refreshed its data so here is the second installment of the “Crude Oil Imports/Exports” section.
As of the week ending the 24th, crude oil imports have hit their lowest in a month by nearly a thousand barrels of oil per day. Crude oil exports are also down this week, sitting at 4,584 Mbbl/d.
US Weekly Import/Export Data (March 17 – 24)
| Product | Imports (Mbbl/d) | Exports (Mbbl/d) | Net (Mbbl/d) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crude Oil | 5,325 | 4,584 | 741 |
| Other Petroleum Products | 2,275 | 6,038 | -3,763 |
| Total Oil + Products | 7,600 | 10,622 | -3,022 |
Data on where exports are going and where imports are coming from hasn’t been updated since December so here is that information. It looks like most of the exports in December came from Canada, no surprise there, and most went to Mexico.
US Monthly Import/Export Origin and Destination Data (December 2022)
| Export Destination | Total (Mbbl) | Import Origin | Total (Mbbl) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 36,952 | Canada | 128,962 |
| Canada | 24,776 | Mexico | 23,618 |
| Netherlands | 22,233 | Saudi Arabia | 18,763 |
That does it for this week. I hope everyone has a great weekend and we’ll see you next week, cheers!
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