April 27, 2015 [Reuters] - U.S. crude oil storage has reached the highest levels since 2011, with tanks in the Cushing, Oklahoma hub running nearly 80 percent full, energy markets intelligence firm Genscape said on Tuesday.
Cushing, the delivery point for the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures contract, saw a build of more than 1 million barrels per day between April 10 and April 14, hitting 78 percent capacity, Genscape data showed.
“This is the highest capacity utilization Genscape has measured at Cushing since 2011,” Hillary Stevenson, supply chain network manager at Genscape, wrote in a company blog.
Stevenson also told Reuters that the 15 operators at the Cushing tank farm, who manage a total of about 83 million barrels, have space for less than 18 million barrels.
Market speculation has been rife that rapidly climbing U.S. crude supplies could soon cause storage tanks in Cushing to fill up, leaving little or no room for more barrels.
WTI’s front-month contract has risen some 19 percent since April began on signs of falling U.S. output, but the increased amounts of crude oil in storage at Cushing could put pressure on prices and cut into those gains.
