Oil and refined products inventory report

[dan_s]

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell for the second consecutive week but remain near a record high, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Nationwide crude supplies, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, totaled 394.6 million barrels during the week ended May 17, down 0.1% from the previous week, the administration said May 22 in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Last week's crude inventories were still up 3.1% from 382.5 million barrels a year earlier and are "above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year." Earlier in May, supplies hit 395.5 million barrels, the largest in inventory records going back to 1982.

Total motor gasoline inventories rose 1.4% to 220.7 million barrels, up 9.8% from a year ago and "near the upper limit of the average range." Distillate fuel inventories fell 0.9% to 118.8 million barrels, 0.6% below year-earlier levels.

At U.S. refineries, crude oil inputs averaged 15.25 million barrels per day during the week, little-changed from the previous week but up from 14.99 million barrels a year ago. Refineries ran at 87.3% of operable capacity, down from 88% the previous week and 88.1% a year ago.

Finished gasoline production rose 3.1%, averaging about 9.21 million barrels per day, while distillate production rose 3.2 %, averaging 4.79 million barrels per day.