US Crude Oil Inventories See a Significant Drop

In a recent weekly report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), it was revealed that the United States' commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), decreased by one million barrels to 414.6 million barrels for the week ending January 3.

Refinery Operations and Production Rates

Crude oil refinery inputs saw an average of 16.9 million barrels per day (bpd), marking an increase of 44,000 bpd from the previous week. Refineries were operating at 93.3% of their operable capacity. However, gasoline production saw a decrease, averaging 98.9 million bpd, alongside a drop in distillate fuel production, which averaged 5.2 million bpd.

Changes in Crude Oil Imports and Petroleum Inventories

Crude oil imports experienced a weekly decrease of 497,000 bpd, averaging 6.6 million bpd. On the other hand, total commercial petroleum inventories witnessed an increase of 5 million barrels.