Crude oil reserves in the United States decreased by 4.93 million barrels for the week ending October 16. This decrease, compared to the previous week which recorded a drop of 11.12 million barrels, indicates a continued downward trend in the country's oil reserves.
Continuous decrease in crude oil reserves
According to recent statistics, U.S. commercial crude oil reserves (excluding strategic reserves) have decreased by more than 56 million barrels over the past 27 weeks. However, U.S. crude oil reserves are still 5 million barrels below the levels at the beginning of this year. These reductions are partly due to withdrawals from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
Read more: 99% decrease in ABS granule production at Qaed Basir Petrochemical
Impact of withdrawals from strategic reserves
For the week ending October 16, 300,000 barrels of crude oil were withdrawn from strategic reserves, bringing the total reserves in the SPR down to 282.7 million barrels. This level is still 431 million barrels below the maximum capacity of strategic reserves. The minimum operationally accepted level for oil reserves in the SPR is between 250 to 300 million barrels, and if it falls below this level, reserves may face issues in pumping and processing oil.
Oil production and prices
U.S. oil production for the week ending October 9 reached 13.679 million barrels per day, a decrease from the previous week's 13.979 million barrels. However, this figure represents an increase of 43,000 barrels compared to last year. In the oil market, Brent crude prices reached $108.96 per barrel on Wednesday, an increase of $3 from the previous week. WTI crude prices also decreased to $101.79 per barrel, which is $6 higher than the price at the same time last week.
Changes in gasoline and diesel reserves
Gasoline reserves decreased by 2 million barrels for the week ending October 14, while the previous week saw an increase of 1.1 million barrels. Additionally, diesel reserves faced a decrease of 2.6 million barrels alongside a 1.5 million barrel decrease the previous week. Diesel reserves are currently 12% lower than the five-year average for this time of year.
Read more: Mohammad Reza Aref announced Iran's readiness for oil and gas cooperation with Shanghai · Increase in Iran's oil production to 3.5 million barrels per day
