API: US petroleum demand falls in September, third quarter

Total US petroleum deliveries, a measure of demand, averaged 18.6 million b/d last month, down 3.5% from September 2013, as stated in the latest monthly statistics from the American Petroleum Institute. For the third quarter, petroleum deliveries fell 0.9% from the same period last year.

"The gap between US petroleum production and demand continued to trend higher last month," said John Felmy, API chief economist. "Strong production of crude and petroleum products coupled with soft demand is a classic recipe for the market movements that have generated headlines in recent weeks."

According to API data, gasoline demand last month fell 3% from a year ago to average close to 8.7 million b/d. Over the same period, demands for residual fuel, distillate, and jet fuel fell 44.6%, 2.6%, and 2.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, other oils, which accounted for 25.4% of total deliveries, gained 1% over year-ago levels.

On the supply side, US crude oil production reached the highest September level in 29 years, rising 13.7% from last year to 8.8 million b/d, API said. Natural gas liquids production reached an all-time high of 3.1 million b/d, 11.1% higher over the same period last year.

According to Baker Hughes Inc., the number of oil and gas rigs in the US in September reached 1,930, the highest count since July 2012. This figure is up from the August count of 1,904 and September 2013 count of 1,760.

Total petroleum imports for September registered a 16.3% drop from the prior year, averaging just below 8.4 million b/d, which was the lowest level since February 1995. Crude oil imports averaged 7.4 million b/d, down 6.7% over the same period, to the lowest September level in 18 years. Imports of refined petroleum products dropped 52.5% to average 1 million b/d, the lowest level for US Energy Information Administration records dating to 1981. Meanwhile, exports of refined products increased 18.4% from last year to nearly 4.3 million b/d, the highest September level on record and the third-highest exports level ever recorded.

Refinery gross inputs of the month gained 1.2% from last year, setting a new September record of just above 16.3 million b/d. September gasoline production averaged 9.4 million b/d, the lowest level since February but 2.7% higher than year-ago level.

API's latest refinery operable capacity was 17.822 million b/d. The refinery capacity utilization rate averaged 91.7% in September, down 1.2 percentage points from August but up 1 percentage point from the same period last year, API said.

Stocks of crude oil and motor gasoline ended September at 359 million bbl and 210.3 million bbl, respectively, down a respective 3.8% and 4.3% from 2013 levels. Distillate and jet fuel stocks were both down from year-ago levels while stocks of other oils were higher over the same period last year.