US gasoline stocks build 3.824 million barrels on sluggish demand
Analysis of EIA data
New York - December 14, 2011
US gasoline stocks jumped 3.824 million barrels to 218.818 million barrels in the week that ended December 9, as refiners boosted production while demand remained sluggish, data released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed Wednesday.
US gasoline stocks typically build this time of year, although this increase exceeded analysts’ expectations of a 2-million-barrel build.
Gasoline stock builds this year are outpacing historic trends. Stocks have climbed 14.651 million barrels since the week that ended November 4, compared with a five-year-average gain over the same weeks of just 4.078 million barrels.
Gasoline stocks on the US Atlantic Coast rose 1.879 million barrels to 59.102 million barrels, putting inventories just 524,000 barrels below the five-year high.
US gasoline production jumped 417,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 9.544 million b/d, a level typically seen in peak summer demand months.
Weekly fluctuations are not unusual; however, on a four-week moving average, production at 9.332 million b/d was 315,750 b/d above the same period in 2010.
US gasoline imports fell 44,000 b/d to 776,000 b/d.
Gasoline demand rose by 92,000 b/d to 8.666 million b/d, but remains 682,000 b/d less than year-ago levels. On a four week moving average, gasoline demand for the week ending December 9 is down by 4.5% from the comparable period in 2010.
US commercial crude inventories fell 1.932 million barrels to 334.151 million barrels, matching analysts' expectations, as imports declined.
Crude stocks remain 6.226 million barrels above the five-year average.
A 3.3-million-barrel rise in crude stocks on the US West Coast was offset by a 5-million-barrel draw in stocks on the US Gulf Coast. Crude stocks in the Midwest fell 800,000 barrels to 93.3 million barrels, while stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma – the delivery point of the New York Mercantile Exchange’s crude oil futures contract – rose 830,000 barrels to 31.188 million barrels.
Cushing stocks are about 2.9 million barrels greater than the five-year average and about 4.7 million barrels less than year-ago levels.
Crude inputs to refineries fell 590,000 b/d to 14.657 million b/d, and refinery utilization dropped 2.6 percentage points to 85.1% of capacity.
US distillate stocks rose a marginal 480,000 barrels to 141.502 million barrels. The EIA’s distillate figure is much less than the American Petroleum Institute’s 1.236-million-barrel build reported on Tuesday, but near analysts' expected 500,000-barrel build.
Distillate demand rose 33,000 b/d to 3.953 million b/d and remains 183,000 b/d greater than year-ago levels.
Ultra-low-sulfur-diesel stocks fell 400,000 barrels to 92.8 million barrels, while heating oil stocks rose 800,000 barrels to 38.8 million barrels.
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