Total crude oil and petroleum products stocks jumped +5.34 mmb to 1130.39 mmb in the week ended August 16. The increase was huge compared with a mere +0.14 mmb increase last week. Crude oil inventory slid -0.82 mmb to 354.17 mmb. Draws in the East Coast, the Midwest and the Gulf Coast were partly offset by builds in Rocky Mountain and the West Coast. Cushing stock dropped for a second consecutive, by -0.68 mmb, to 37.04 mmb. Utilization rate rose to 90 after plunging to 88.1%, the lowest level since June 11, in the prior week.

Concerning oil products, gasoline stockpile was almost flat, losing only -0.04 mmb to 223.34 mmb. Demand soared +2.41% to 9.46M bpd but was partly offset as production climbed +1.67% to 9.45M bpd and imports jumped +12.63% to 1.08M bpd. Distillate stockpile rose +1.07 mmb to 174.21 mmb. This is the 12th straight weekly increase but the magnitude is the smallest in 3 weeks. Demand surged +8.06% to 3.67M bpd, imports contracted -17.46% to 0.26M bpd while production dipped -2.26% to 4.24M bpd.

Selloff in WTI crude oil accelerated after the report with the front-month contract slumping to as low as 73.83 before rebound. Heating oil and gasoline also tumbled despite better-than-expected stockpile status. The market focused on the huge increase in total crude and oil product stockpile and the mild decline in crude inventory. At the same time, Wall Street remained under pressure amid concerns over economic slowdown.

Comparison between API and EIA reports:

API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, 76% of the time, using data in the past 4 years.

Source: Bloomberg, API, EIA