Crude Inventories: Up, But Inline

The EIA updated their weekly data for petroleum products this morning. Crude inventories rose to 426 million barrels this week, up 1.68 million from last week. While far from the highs of the past five years, this is only slightly above the five-year average for inventory levels. These numbers are in line with seasonal trends; oil inventories typically rise as refineries re-tool for winter product blends.

Strong demand from abroad paired with higher production has brought crude exports to their second-lowest deficit in the past five years.  The smallest deficit actually came from earlier this month (10/5). Throughout this year, the deficit in crude exports has maintained a very low level relative to the last couple of decades.

As shoulder season comes to a close, refinery demand has started moving back to more normal levels. Refinery throughput has been at elevated levels for most of the year, and is still high relative to the past five years, but is much closer to the average than where it has been.