US commercial crude oil inventories fall by 5M bbls

Oil

US commercial crude oil stocks fell for the second week in a row during the week ending May 15, declining by 5M bbls w-o-w to 526.5M bbls, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Despite the fall, stocks are still around 10% higher than the five-year average for this time of year. Crude oil imports fell by 194K b/d w-o-w to 5.2M b/d with exports also down by 290K b/d to 3.2M b/d. Refineries operated at 69.4% of their capacity, increasing by 1.5% w-o-w, as inputs also grew by 500K b/d w-o-w to an average of 12.9M b/d.