Crude oil reserves in the United States faced a significant decrease of 11.12 million barrels in the week ending October 9, 2023. This decrease occurred after a reduction of 2.09 million barrels in the previous week. According to data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), commercial crude oil reserves, excluding Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR), have decreased by more than 51 million barrels over the past 26 weeks. Currently, U.S. crude oil reserves are at a level similar to the beginning of the year.
Status of Strategic Oil Reserves
In the week ending October 9, 2023, no barrels were drawn from the strategic reserves, and the total reserves in the SPR remain at 283 million barrels. This amount is still 431 million barrels below the maximum capacity of these reserves. The minimum operationally accepted level for oil reserves in the SPR is between 250 to 300 million barrels, below which these reserves may face challenges in pumping and processing oil.
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Oil Production and Market Status
U.S. oil production for the week ending October 2 reached 13.979 million barrels per day, showing an increase from 13.955 million barrels the previous week. This amount is also 350,000 barrels per day higher than last year. In the oil market, Brent crude oil was traded at $106.02 per barrel on Wednesday, which is a $5 increase from the previous week. Additionally, WTI crude oil prices reached $95.75 per barrel, reflecting an increase of nearly $6 compared to the previous week.
Analysis of Gasoline and Other Fuels
Gasoline reserves increased by 1.1 million barrels in the week ending October 7, 2023, while the previous week saw a decrease of 1.37 million barrels. However, gasoline reserves in recent weeks have been 6% lower than the five-year average for this time. Furthermore, distillate fuel reserves faced a decrease of 1.5 million barrels during this period. Distillate reserves were 12% lower than the five-year average at the time of this report.
Finally, reserves in Cushing, the delivery point for WTI crude oil futures contracts, experienced an increase of 1.823 million barrels, indicating increased demand in this sector.
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