Overview of US Crude Oil Inventories

In a recent report released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), it was revealed that the United States has seen a notable decrease in its commercial crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Specifically, a weekly decline of 1.017 million barrels was observed, bringing the total down to 411.7 million barrels for the week ending January 17.

Refinery Operations and Production

The report also highlighted a reduction in crude oil refinery inputs, which averaged 15.5 million barrels per day (bpd), marking a week-on-week drop of 1.125 million bpd. Refineries were operating at 85.9% of their capacity during this period. Additionally, there was a noticeable decrease in gasoline production, averaging 9.2 million bpd, and distillate fuel production, which averaged 4.7 million bpd.

Imports and Total Petroleum Inventories

On the import front, crude oil imports saw an increase, rising by 621,000 bpd to reach 6.7 million bpd. However, the total commercial petroleum inventories experienced a decline, sliding by 4.1 million barrels.