U.S. crude oil inventories decline for the third consecutive week, while gasoline and distillate inventories increase; Venezuelan crude imports reach highest level in nearly 10 years

According to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday, U.S. crude oil inventories have declined for the third consecutive week, while gasoline and distillate fuel oil inventories have increased.

The EIA stated that for the week ending September 11, commercial crude oil inventories excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) decreased by 640,000 barrels to 423.4 million barrels, 1% above the five-year average for the same period. This inventory decline was smaller than the market expectation of a 1.4 million barrel decrease.

SPR inventories decreased by 403,000 barrels to 285 million barrels. Crude oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, the NYMEX delivery hub, dropped by 342,000 barrels to 21.5 million barrels.

Gasoline inventories increased by 794,000 barrels to 207.7 million barrels, 5% below the five-year average for the same period; daily gasoline demand rose by 247,000 barrels to 8.8 million barrels. The market had previously expected gasoline inventories to decrease by 800,000 barrels.

Distillate fuel oil inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels to 107.9 million barrels, 13% below the five-year average for the same period. The market had previously expected distillate inventories to remain unchanged.

The EIA estimates that U.S. crude oil daily production was 13.9 million barrels, basically unchanged from the previous week. Daily crude oil imports increased by 234,000 barrels to 7.1 million barrels; daily crude oil exports rose by 1.4 million barrels to 4.8 million barrels, the largest weekly increase since late May.

Venezuelan crude oil imports hit the highest record so far this year, with shipment volumes reaching the highest level since 2017.

Last week, Venezuelan crude arrivals to the U.S. were just under 800,000 barrels, gradually approaching the 1 million barrels per day threshold seen in the late 2010s. Meanwhile, the Trump administration and the country are focusing on reaching a series of oil agreements to attract capital and boost output.

Refinery operating rates were at 96.8%, lower than the previous week's 97.8%; daily crude oil refinery throughput fell by 256,000 barrels to 17.3 million barrels. The market had previously expected refinery utilization rates to decline by 0.6 percentage points.