US Crude Oil Inventories Fall, Gasoline Production Declines: EIA

US crude oil refineries processed an average of 15.9 million barrels of crude oil per day during the week ending April 19, 2024, a slight decrease from the previous week, according to the latest Petroleum Status Report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Operating at 88.5% of their capacity, refineries produced 9.1 million barrels of gasoline per day and 4.8 million barrels of distillate fuel per day.

US crude oil imports increased slightly to 6.5 million barrels per day, while total motor gasoline imports averaged 780 thousand barrels per day and distillate fuel imports averaged 138 thousand barrels per day.

Commercial crude oil inventories in the US decreased by 6.4 million barrels to 453.6 million barrels, falling below the five-year average for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories declined by 0.6 million barrels to a level approximately 4% below the five-year average. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels, but remain about 7% lower than the five-year average.

Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 19.8 million barrels a day, a marginal increase from the same period last year. Motor gasoline product supplied decreased by 3.7%, distillate fuel product supplied fell by 11.6%, while jet fuel product supplied rose by 2.4%.

The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell by $2.67 to $83.79 per barrel on April 19, 2024, while the New York Harbor spot price for conventional gasoline decreased to $2.684 per gallon. The spot price for No. 2 heating oil at New York Harbor also declined to $2.444 per gallon.

At the retail level, the national average price for regular gasoline rose slightly to $3.668 per gallon, while the national average retail diesel fuel price declined to $3.992 per gallon.

The recent decline in crude oil inventories and gasoline production, coupled with price fluctuations, continues to impact the US energy market.