EIA Reports US Crude Production Hit Highest Levels Since 2021
May 1, 2024
The API inventory numbers called crude oil supplies up 4.906 million barrels, gasoline down 1.483 million barrels, and distillates down 2.187 million barrels.
The average estimate for today’s DOE inventory update from the Bloomberg survey are for crude stocks to be down 2.018 million barrels, gasoline down 1.135 million barrels and distillates up 355,000 barrels.
The average estimate for today’s propane inventory update is for supplies to build by 2.09 million barrels. The average over the last five years for this reporting week has seen supplies increase by 590,000 barrels.
WTI crude oil is down over a dollar this morning as the ceasefire talks is still in the news. The possibility that the Fed could also indicate they will raise rate after the conclusion of their meeting this week when the market has long expected rate cuts. This is a head wind for crude oil as well.
The EIA reported that US crude oil production averaged 13.15 million barrel per day in February. That was up from 12.58 in January and was the largest monthly increase since October 2021 and this is also news that pressure crude oil prices.
Crude went right through the $82 dollar level and $80 is the next big support level. If this market is going to move lower, then the bears need to get going and break this market down. If it congests around this $80 dollar level or rebounds, then chances are still good for another run higher.
Some other bearish news was Canada Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project (TMX) that is set to start partial operation today May 1. The project is expected to ship an additional 590,000 bpd of heavy sour crude oil from Alberta to Canda’s Pacific Coast. The news of these additional Canadian crude oil barrels coming to market also helped prices come under selling pressure yesterday.
A group of Western insurers has said a Russian oil price cap has become unenforceable and only pushed more ships into joining a shadow fleet.