US refinery rates, crude imports continue post-storm recovery:EIA

New York (Platts)--13Oct2005

US refinery utilization and crude imports rose last week as the country's
energy sector continued its recovery from the back-to-back devastation wrought
by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the US Energy Information Administration
indicated Thursday.
     EIA, in the written summary accompanying its weekly petroleum report,
said refinery inputs averaged 12.6-mil b/d for the week ended Oct 7, up
868,000 b/d from the prior week. Refineries ran at 74.9% of their operable
capacity during the week, up from 69.8%.
     Gasoline and distillate production rose as a result of the increased
refinery throughputs. Output of gasoline climbed to nearly 7.9-mil b/d from
7.5-mil b/d, while distillate production moved to 3.2-mil b/d from 3-mil b/d,
EIA said.
     Crude imports rose 500,000 b/d to 8.6-mil b/d, according to the agency,
the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy. Over the past four weeks,
crude imports have averaged about 9.1-mil b/d, some 774,000 b/d less than the
comparable period last year.
     Total motor gasoline imports continued their high post-storm level,
coming it at 1.43-mil b/d, up from 1.42-mil b/d. Distillate imports fell to
269,000 b/d from 310,000 b/d, EIA said.          
     US crude stocks gained 1-mil bbl last week, and at 306.4-mil bbl remain
above the upper end of the average seasonal range. Analysts polled by Platts
expected inventories to climb 3-mil bbl.
     Gasoline stocks dropped 2.7-mil bbl, putting them below the lower end of
the average seasonal range. The market had anticipated a 1.7-mil bbl decline.
     Distillate stocks also fell more than expected, losing 3.4-mil bbl
against analysts expectations of a 2.7-mil bbl draw. "Inventories fell for
both low-sulfur (diesel fuel) distillate fuel and high-sulfur (heating oil)
distillate fuel," EIA said.
     EIA also said total product supplied over the past four weeks has
averaged more than 20-mil b/d, 2.8% less than the same period last year.
     US gasoline demand has averaged 8.8-mil b/d over the previous four weeks,
2.4% below last year, while distillate demand during the past four weeks has
averaged 3.9-mil b/d, 4% under the comparable period a year ago.
--Kevin Saville, kevin_saville@platts.com

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