US Stock Movements - May 2016

Preliminary data for April shows that total commercial oil stocks in the US rose by 13.8 mb to stand at 1370.8 mb. At this level, they were 126.4 mb, or 10.2%, above the same period a year ago and 255 mb, or 22.8%, higher than the latest five-year average. Within the components, the bulk of the build came from crude, which rose by 13.5 mb, while products rose only by 0.3 mb.

US commercial crude stocks rose in April for the fourth consecutive month to reach 543.4 mb. Over the last four months, US commercial crude stocks accumulated nearly 49 mb, and stood at 66 mb, or 12.4%, above the same time one year ago and 138 mb, or 34.2%, above the latest five-year average. The build in crude oil came despite broadly unchanged imports, averaging 7.8 mb/d. Higher crude runs further limited the build in crude oil stocks. Crude runs rose by 90,000 b/d to stand at 16.1 mb/d. This corresponds to a refinery utilization rate of around 90%, or around 0.5 percentage points (pp) higher than the previous month. In April, crude commercial inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, stood at 66.3 mb, almost the same level as the previous month.

Total product stocks also rose by 0.3 mb in April to stand at 827.4 mb. At this level, US product stocks were around 66.4 mb, or 8.7 %, above the level seen at the same time a year ago, showing a surplus of 116.2 mb, or 15.8 %, above the seasonal norm.

Within products, the picture was mixed. Gasoline stocks fell by 22 mb in April to stand at 241.8 mb, but remained 13.4 mb or 5.8% higher than the same period a year ago, and 25.7 mb, or 11.9%, above the latest five-year average. The drop in gasoline stocks came mainly from higher gasoline demand, which increased by about 100,000 b/d to stand at 9.5 mb/d.

Distillate stocks also fell by 6.0 mb in April, ending the month at 157.0 mb. At this level, they indicated a surplus of 28.0 mb, or 22%, from the same period a year ago, and stood 30.5 mb, or 24.2%, above the latest five-year average. The fall in middle distillate stocks was mainly driven by higher demand, which increased by 370,000 b/d to stand at nearly 4.0 mb/d.

Residual fuel oil inventories fell by 1.8 mb to 42.2 mb, which was 2.5 mb, or 8.5%, higher than the previous year over the same period and 4.5 mb, or 12.0%, above the seasonal norm. Jet fuel stocks also fell by 2.5 mb, ending April at 42.2 mb. At this level, jet fuel stocks stood 3.7 mb, or 10%, higher than the same month a year ago, and were 2.8 mb, or 7.0%, higher than the latest five-year average.