Energy Prospectus

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 5.392 million barrels in the week ended August 25. Market analysts' had expected a crude-stock drawdown of 1.908 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a 5.78 million barrel decline in stockpiles. < Hurricane Harvey probably caused a decline in imports. Next week's report should show a much larger decline in production and imports.

Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for NYMEX crude, increased by 0.689 million barrels last week, the EIA said. Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 457.8 million barrels as of last week, according to the press release, which the EIA considered to be “in the middle of the average range for this time of year”. < In my opinion, if crude oil inventories keep falling to 400 million barrels it is much too low.

The report also showed that gasoline inventories unexpectedly increased by 0.035 million barrels, compared to expectations for a draw of 0.989 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles also rose by 0.748 million barrels, compared to forecasts for a decline of 0.846 million. < Gasoline stations all through the Houston area are now low on supply.

"Global refining margins are going to stay very strong," said Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix. "If (U.S.) refineries shut down for more than a week, Asia will need to run at a higher level, because there's no spare capacity in Europe."