US crude oil inventories for the week ended Apr. 18, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 200,000 bbl from the previous week, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.
At 443.1 million bbl, US crude oil inventories are about 5% below the 5-year average for this time of year, the EIA report indicated.
EIA said total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 4.5 million bbl from last week and are about 3% below the 5-year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories increased while blending components inventories decreased last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 2.4 million bbl last week and are about 13% below the 5-year average for this time of year.
Propane-propylene inventories increased by 2.3 million bbl from last week and are 7% below the 5-year average for this time of year, EIA said.
US crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.9 million b/d for the week ended Apr. 18, which was 326,000 b/d more than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 88.1% of capacity.
Gasoline production increased, averaging 10.1 million b/d. Distillate fuel production decreased, averaging 4.6 million b/d.
US crude oil imports averaged 5.6 million b/d, down by 412,000 b/d from the previous week. Over the last 4 weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.1 million b/d, 6.8% less than the same 4-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports averaged 858,000 b/d. Distillate fuel imports averaged 97,000 b/d.
