US crude oil inventories fell by 8.33 million barrels in the week ended June 12, a much larger draw than the expected 4.5 million barrels and following a 9.12 million-barrel decline the previous week. Although stocks have dropped by roughly 52 million barrels over the past nine weeks, total US crude inventories are only 1.4 million barrels lower than at the start of the year.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) inventories also continued to shrink, decreasing by 8.9 million barrels to 340.3 million, leaving them about 385 million barrels below maximum capacity. At the same time, inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub fell by 1.52 million barrels, extending the prior week’s 1.13 million-barrel draw.
US crude production climbed to 13.80 million barrels per day in the week ended June 5, up from 13.71 million bpd a week earlier. On the products side, gasoline inventories increased by 2.48 million barrels, reversing the previous week’s 1.19 million-barrel decline, while distillate stockpiles slipped by 461,000 barrels after a 1.3 million-barrel build in the prior week.
