Oil Storage Report - Nov 22

[dan_s]

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 17. That compared with analysts' expectations for a decline of 1.5 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply-drop of 6.4 million barrels.

Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, decreased by 1.8 million barrels last week, the EIA said.

Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 457.1 million barrels as of last week, which the EIA considered to be at the upper half of the average range for this time of year.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.9 million barrels per day last week, down by 25,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

The report also showed that gasoline inventories remained largely unchanged, compared to expectations for a gain of 0.8 million barrels.
For distillate inventories including diesel, the EIA reported a gain of 0.3 million barrels.

Oil prices ended higher on Tuesday amid expectations that oil producing countries will agree to extend an output cut at their meeting at the end of this month.

Top crude exporter Saudi Arabia is lobbying oil ministers to agree next week (November 30) on a nine-month extension to OPEC-led supply cuts, sources familiar with the matter said, as Riyadh seeks to ensure a price-sapping glut is eradicated.

There is no GLUT and I sure wish they'd quit using that word! - Dan