US crude oil inventories fall to ten-month low

Oil

US commercial crude oil inventories declined by 3.2M bbls w-o-w to 482.2M bbls during the week ending January 8, falling for the fifth consecutive week to the lowest level since the week ending March 27, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Despite the weekly decrease, stocks remain at around 8% above the five-year average for this time of year, and up by 53.7M bbls (or 12.5%) y-o-y. Refinery throughputs rose by 270K b/d w-o-w to 14.65M b/d, the highest since the week ending August 21, with refinery utilisation also increasing by 1.3% w-o-w to average 82%. Crude oil exports fell by 620K b/d w-o-w and 470K b/d y-o-y to 3.01M b/d, after rising to a nine-month high the previous week, whereas imports shot up by 870K b/d w-o-w to 6.24M b/d, a five-week high.