EIA: Crude oil runs touch highest rates since July

US refiners boosted crude oil throughputs last week to their highest levels since mid-July, according to the latest data from the US Energy Information Administration.

Refinery inputs of crude oil rose for a ninth consecutive week to average more than 16 million b/d overall for the week ended Dec. 6, according to EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), released on Dec. 11.

While the lift in runs was a modest 25,000 b/d gain from the previous week, last week’s elevated run rate ushered US refiners’ overall weekly crude throughputs to their most robust level since the week ended July 12, according to EIA historical data.

Increased oil runs for last week came alongside a nearly 950,000-b/d drop in overall foreign crude oil imports into the US, the WPSR showed.

The combination of increased crude oil runs amid declines in foreign oil imports follows the last-in, first-out method of tax accounting used by many US refiners, which encourages refineries to reduce the amount of unused crude oil supplies in storage before a yearly inventory tax assessment on Dec. 31.