US crude oil stockpiles fell the most in a week since mid-2019 as the Biden administration slowed its use of the country's oil reserves, which now stand at near four-decade lows as refiners increase their push out of fuel products, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th November, 2022) US crude oil stockpiles fell the most in a week since mid-2019 as the Biden administration slowed its use of the country's oil reserves, which now stand at near four-decade lows as refiners increase their push out of fuel products, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 12.58 million barrels during the week ended November 25 in the biggest drawdown since the week to June 21, 2019, which itself saw an outflow of 12.79 million barrels, the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report said.
Crude inventories had already been falling prior to the November 25 week, dropping by a combined 9 million barrels over the two prior weeks.
Last week's drawdown came as the Biden administration slowed its use of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which has fallen to its lowest levels since March 1984, the EIA said.
The agency also said that US petroleum refiners ran at 93% of their capacity last week, pushing out more than the required fuel products that had led to substantial stockpile builds of those.
Gasoline, the number one automobile fuel in the United States, saw a stockpile build of 2.77 million barrels last week, adding to the 5.2-million barrel increase over the two prior weeks.
Inventories of distillates, which are refined into diesel for trucks, buses, trains and ships as well as fuel for jets, rose by 3.55 million barrels last week, adding to the net increase of around 3.0-million barrels seen over the six previous weeks.
"Refineries are running ultra-hard right now - near seasonal records - as crack spreads make for a windfall," analyst Adam Button wrote in a commentary posted on the ForexLive forum.
Crack spreads, which refer to refining profit margins, stood at $59 per barrel for distillates and at $19 a barrel for gasoline, data showed.
