US refinery throughput growth stalls, crude stocks rise again

Oil

US refinery crude oil inputs decreased by 100K b/d w-o-w to an average of 14.2M b/d during the week ending July 17, falling for the second week in a row, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Refinery throughput was 2.8M b/d lower than the same time last year and refinery utilisation fell by 0.2% w-o-w to 77.9%, bringing an end to nine consecutive weeks of increases. 

Commercial crude oil inventories rose by 4.9M bbls w-o-w to 536.6M bbls, which is a growth of 91.5M bbls y-o-y and around 19% above the five-year average for this time of year. Crude stocks have fluctuated around this level since peaking at 540.7M bbls in the middle of June. Total motor gasoline stocks fell by 1.8M bbls w-o-w to 246.7M bbls, declining for the third consecutive week. Crude oil imports grew by 370K b/d w-o-w to 5.9M b/d, with exports also rising by 450K b/d w-o-w to 3M b/d.