Oil prices fell today following the US Energy Information Administration’s announcement. report Inventories increased by 7.3 million barrels for the week ending April 26.
By comparison, prices briefly rose last week due to significant demand of 6.4 million barrels the previous week.
For gasoline, officials reported that inventories rose by 300,000 barrels last week, compared with a modest decline of 600,000 barrels the week before.
Gasoline production averaged 9.4 million barrels per day for the week ending April 26, compared with 9.1 million barrels per day the previous week.
For distillate fuels, EIA estimated that 700,000 barrels of inventory is expected during the reporting period, with production averaging 4.5 million barrels per day.
Last week’s numbers compared to an increase in inventories of 1.6 million barrels a day last week, when production averaged 4.8 million barrels a day.
While there was major concern last year that distillate production was consistently below demand expectations, the tables now appear to have turned, raising concerns about a potential oversupply.
Reuters report It emerged earlier this week that fuel producers are scrambling to find storage space for distillate stocks along the East Coast as demand slumps. The report suggested that a warmer-than-usual winter was responsible for the drop in demand for diesel and kerosene.
This drop in demand significantly reduced refiners’ margins in the first quarter of this year, impacting their quarterly net profits, the report said.
Meanwhile, oil prices fell further today following the American Petroleum Institute’s latest weekly inventory report showing crude oil inventories increased by 4.9 million barrels in the week ending April 26. Expectations for the ceasefire to continue also supported the price decline. between Hamas and Israel.
In response to this decline, OPEC crude oil production fell by 100,000 barrels per day in April, according to a Reuters poll. Oil exports from Iran, Iraq and Nigeria fell, bringing the cartel’s total production to 26.39 million barrels a day last month, according to the study.
Written by Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
