New York—US crude oil inventories saw a third weekly draw in the week-ended April 9 as refinery demand pushed to fresh 13-month highs, US Energy Information Administration data showed April 14.
Commercial crude oil stocks fell 5.89 million barrels to 492.42 million barrels last week, EIA data showed. It was the largest one-week draw in inventories since the week ended Feb. 12 and narrowed the supply overhang to 1.5% above the five-year average, in from 3.7% the week prior.The bulk of the draw was concentrated on the US Gulf Coast, where stocks slid 6.46 million barrels to a five-week-low 283.81 million barrels, and on the West Coast, which saw a 2.06 million-barrel draw down to 46.17 million barrels.
The draw was partially offset by a 2.24 million-barrel increase in Midwest inventories to 130.47 million barrels. The Midwest build included a 350,000-barrel bump in stocks at the NYMEX delivery point of Cushing, Oklahoma.
While in line with seasonal norms, the draw exceeded analyst expectations. Inventory data released late April 13 from the American Petroleum Institute pegged total US crude stocks 3.61 million barrels lower last week, while an S&P Global Platts survey of analysts April 12 called for a 2.9 million-barrel draw.
The larger-than-expected inventory draw added upward pressure to already buoyant crude prices. NYMEX May WTI settled $2.97 higher at $63.15/b and front-month ICE June Brent climbed $2.91 to settle at $66.58/b.
Crude exports slipped 860,000 b/d to 2.58 million b/d, a four-week low, but the impact these lower outflows had on inventories was blunted in part by a 410,000 b/d slide in imports to 5.85 million b/d.
Refinery net crude inputs edged up to 15.05 million b/d from 15.04 million b/d the week prior, pushing to a fresh 13-month high, as total utilization climbed 1 percentage point to 85% of capacity. USGC refinery utilization jumped 3.2 percentage points to 86.3% of capacity, just 0.2 percentage point below levels ahead of the mid-February polar vortex.
Total refined product supplied, EIA's proxy for demand, climbed 1.09 million b/d to an eight-week-high 20.33 million b/d.
Implied gasoline demand was the strongest since August after climbing 1.8% to 8.94 million b/d. The four-week moving average of gasoline demand climbed for a seventh consecutive week to 8.81 million b/d, and as of last week was 0.4% above the five-year average -- marking the first time demand has been above average since the week ended March 20, 2020.
NYMEX May RBOB settled 5.98 cents higher at $2.0355/gal.
Total gasoline inventories climbed 310,000 barrels to 234.90 million barrels, narrowing the deficit to the five-year average to 2.3% from 2.9% the week prior. But this build was realized almost entirely on the USGC, where stocks climbed 2.27 million barrels to 82.71 million barrels. Meanwhile Midwest gasoline stocks slid 1.9 million barrels to 48.56 million barrels, a five-month low.
Distillate stocks saw a counter-seasonal draw of 2.08 million barrels, leaving them at a four-week low 143.46 million barrels. May ULSD was up 7.55 cents at $1.8900/gal.
The distillate draw comes as demand for jet fuel jumped nearly 8% to a 13-week high 1.36 million b/d. Stronger jet demand likely reduced the need for refiners to blend excess barrels into the broader distillate pool, contributing to the overall distillate draw down.
The four-week moving average of implied jet fuel demand was also more than 7% higher on the week, climbing to 1.25 million b/d - the strongest since the week-ended April 3, 2020.
