EIA DATA: US crude stocks see 17m barrel slump
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – US crude oil stocks saw a far bigger than expected draw in the week to 28 July, with the Energy Information Administration (EIA) saying privately held inventories fell 17 million barrels over the week to their lowest levels since the start of the year.
Weekly figures from the EIA's closely watched Petroleum Status Report on Wednesday showed the largest weekly drop in crude stocks on record.
All of that fall came from privately held inventories, which were down to 439.8 million barrels last week, which left available supply at its lowest level since early January, according to the EIA's analysis.
The week's move exceeded even a surprise 15.4-million-barrel draw seen in API figures overnight, as well as a more modest 1.37 million barrels average analysts polled by Reuters had given prior to both reports.
None of the week's moves were seen in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was steady on the week at 346.8 million barrels.
That comes as news emerged this week that the US Department of Energy baulked at offers on show as it sought to replenish the first 6 million barrels of its SPR stocks, with rallying crude prices pushing it away from the market as it seeks to rebuild emergency inventories from a 40-year low.
Despite an almost 4% drop in private crude oil inventories, there was little apparent bullishness in oil prices in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday's report.
Front month WTI futures spiked over $0.50/b as the market digested the headline figure in the seconds after the report's release, but then slumped to three-session lows in the next 10 minutes – slipping below the $80/b mark to $79.61/b.
Throughput
Given the changes to the rest of the balance sheet, it is possible that the unexpectedly large draw in stocks over the week was due to technical reporting reasons.
The rest of the EIA data showed net trade figures slipping to a five-week low at 1.4 million bpd as imports crept 5% higher over the week to 6.7 million bpd but were offset by a 15% jump in imports to 5.3 million bpd.
Output figures were steady on the week at 12.2 million bpd, with production continuing to hold around a level that has remained consistent for over a year now.
And refinery crude throughput was up by the equivalent of just 39,000 bpd, with 16.5 million bpd of crude making its way into the US refining complex.