Weekly Oil Data

Inventories, Exports, Imports, and Refinery Utilization (2 Tables and 13 charts)

MAIN TAKEAWAY

• There has been another release of 3.0 mb from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as part of the 26 mb congressionally mandated sales for this year. As we in the past, all the remaining releases have already been priced in. 

• Gasoline and distillates inventories declined to critically low levels. Gasoline inventories are the lowest since 2014.  

• The EIA is still struggling with the large adjustment number, although it is lower than that of the previous weeks. Despite its investigation and recommendations, the number remains high at about 5.4 mb as reported last week. 

• The US SPR draws will stop by the end of June.  Voluntary oil output cuts by large OPEC+ producers, meanwhile, went into effect this month and they are expected to continue until the end of 2023. There is a high possibility that when OPEC+ meets in June, producers could make the voluntary reductions formal, but the amount of the cut could be larger because the cut covers the whole group, not only those who participated in voluntary cuts.  However, the cut would be from the quota, not the actual.

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