US crude oil refinery inputs continue to tumble

Oil

US crude oil refinery inputs plummeted by 1.1M b/d w-o-w and 4.7M b/d y-o-y to 12.8M b/d during the week ending September 4, falling for the second consecutive week to the lowest level since the week ending May 8, according to the US EIA. Refinery utilisation also declined by 4.9% w-o-w to 71.8%. Crude oil imports increased by 520K b/d w-o-w to 5.4M b/d, however this is still a decrease of 1.3M b/d y-o-y, as exports edged down by 60K b/d w-o-w to 2.9M b/d. Commercial crude oil inventories rose by 2M bbls w-o-w to 500.4M bbls, after previously being drawn down for the past 6 consecutive weeks.