Financial Options

The weekly oil report from the Energy Information Administration showed continued increases in inventories for crude oil, gasoline and all petroleum inventories. Distillate fuels and propane inventories are drawing down as the winter heating season passes its peak. On the demand side, gasoline demand is 0.5% below the same period last year – stabilizing if not exactly rebounding in the face of retail prices well below last year's levels. Jet fuel demand is still down 13% compared to the same period last year.

This Week in Petroleum takes a timely look at the relationship between gasoline and crude oil prices as both are climbing, even in the face of building inventories.

The supply and demand balance for gasoline is also a major factor in both wholesale and retail gasoline prices, and can sometimes work in the opposite direction of crude oil prices.

In the current market, those gasoline supply and demand factors may be feeding through to the increases in crude oil prices that do not seem driven by supply side fundamentals.

US Petroleum Supplies and Refining At a Glance

• Total Petroleum Inventories: Up 1.4 million barrels
• Crude Oil Inventories: Up 7.2 million barrels
• Gasoline Inventories: Up 300,000 barrels
• Distillate Fuels Inventories: Down 1.4 million barrels
• Propane/propylene inventories: Down 2.9 million barrels
• Refinery Crude Inputs: 14.3 million barrels/day
• Change: Up 205,000 barrels/day
• Refinery Activity: 83.5%

US Petroleum Demand At a Glance
Compared to Same 4-Week Period Last Year

• Total Products Supplied: Down 2.8%
• Gasoline: Down 0.5%
• Distillate Fuel: Down 3.7%
• Jet Fuel: Down 13.1%

Full current report with data tables [PDF]