US Weekly Oil Data
US Inventories, Exports, Imports, and Refinery Utilization (11 Charts).
MAIN TAKEAWAYS
Crude oil inventories increased way higher than expectations. Although crude and gasoline inventories decreased and distillate and crude at Cushing declined, they, in general, followed historical trends.
The rise in crude inventories was the result of production recovery from the freeze, refinery maintenance, and a decrease in exports.
Given the high economic growth rate reported recently for the fourth quarter for the US and the upward revisions to oil demand data by the EIA, the possibility that crude inventories will remain virtually flat is high. They might defy historical trends of increasing for this time of the year.