US Inflation Cools
February 29, 2024
The DOE inventory report had crude up 4.199 million barrels, Cushing, OK crude stocks were up 1.458 million barrels, gasoline stocks were down 2.832 million and distillates were down 510,000. The smaller decline in distillate stocks than expected is putting some softness in prices. Crude oil inventories built for the fifth consecutive week.
The Fed’s preferred inflation measure fell 2.4%, which fell in line with expectations. Core PCE inflation also fell in line with expectations at 2.8%, which is the lowest core PCE inflation reported since April 2022.
Refinery utilization is still low at 5 81.527% up from last week at 80.536%. Unplanned outages because of the cold snap experience In January and refinery turnaround has keep production low and below seasonal averages.
The market is a mixed as it deals with Middle East conflicts, a possible ceasefire, outlook of weak global demand, a constructive DOE inventory report, and the possible roll over of OPEC+ production cuts. Plenty of factors and news to keep up with as there is no clear direction in the market currently and it continue to be rangebound.
Propane inventories had another strong draw of 3.432 million barrels putting total stocks at 51.181 million. Midwest stocks were down 1.006 million to a total of 12.469 million barrels. Gulf Coast stocks were down 1.564 to a total of 30.195 million barrels.