US crude oil inventories declined by 399,000 barrels in the week ending July 3, following a substantially larger draw of 6.072 million barrels the previous week. Over the past 12 weeks, commercial crude stocks (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, SPR) have fallen by almost 60 million barrels, yet are only 8.6 million barrels lower on a year-to-date basis.
The SPR registered another draw of 6.2 million barrels, bringing its level down to 325.7 million barrels—around 405 million barrels below its maximum capacity. At the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub, inventories slipped by 69,000 barrels after an increase of 503,000 barrels the prior week.
Refined product stocks also tightened, with gasoline inventories down by 2.929 million barrels and distillate inventories lower by 1.801 million barrels. Meanwhile, US oil production ticked down marginally to 13.810 million barrels per day from 13.819 million barrels per day.
