WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th July, 2021) US crude oil inventories plummeted for a seventh week in a row, drawing more than 40 million barrels combined, on summer demand for fuels amid strong economic recovery, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed on Thursday.
Stockpiles of crude in the United States - the world's largest oil consuming country - fell by 6.87 million barrels last week, the data showed.
Industry analysts polled by US media had anticipated a drawdown of just about 4 million barrels for crude during the week that ended on July 2.
Crude inventories have fallen without a break each week since May 17, totaling 40.5 million barrels or averaging 5.8 million barrels per week.
The big draw came as US refiners focus on pushing out as much gasoline as they can for this summer to meet projected demand. According to the EIA, refiners operated last week at 92.2 percent of capacity - levels last seen in the summer of 2019.
Stockpiles of gasoline fell by 6.1 million barrels last week, versus forecasts for a drawdown of 1.8 million barrels, demonstrating the stepped-up refining activity.
Inventories of distillates, that include diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.6 million barrels, forming the only bearish component in the EIA data set. Analysts had forecast a build of just 150,000 barrels here.
The surge in fuel demand has led to a sharp appreciation in both futures prices of US crude as well as gasoline prices at pump stations in the United States.
US crude futures traded just two cents shy of $77 per barrel on Monday, reaching peaks not seen since November 2014. Gasoline prices at the pump stations are also at near seven-year highs of above $3 per gallon.
