August 25, 2023 [Argus]- US crude inventories fell by 6.1mn bl last week to a year-to-date low of 433.5mn bl, driven by a large draw at Cushing, Oklahoma, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The inventory drawdown in the week that ended on 18 August has brought crude stockpiles to their lowest level since the week ended 30 December, when 420.6mn bl were recorded.

Stocks at the Cushing storage hub in the most recent week fell by 3.1mn bl to 30.7mn bl, the largest weekly decline in nearly two years and the 12th largest in EIA data going back to 2004.

Crude inventories at the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) climbed by 594,000 bl to 348.9mn bl. SPR stocks are not included in the overall EIA commercial crude inventory figures.

Domestic crude production increased to 12.8mn b/d, up by 100,000 b/d from the week prior and the third consecutive increase. This is also the highest level of output since March 2020.

US crude exports fell on the week by 341,000 b/d to 4.3mn b/d, while imports fell by 225,000 b/d to 6.9mn b/d.

The US west coast led the decline in imports, falling 604,000 b/d to 1.3mn b/d. This was partly offset by a rebound in the US midcontinent, where imports rose by 526,000 b/d to 3.2mn b/d. Midcontinent refiners source practically all of their foreign crude from Canada.

US refiners processed about 16.8mn b/d of crude last week, up by 30,000 b/d from the previous seven-day period and up by 521,000 b/d compared with the same week in 2022.

Gasoline inventories last week rose by 1.5mn bl to 217.6mn bl while demand, as suggested by finished gasoline product supplied by refineries, rose by 59,000 b/d to 8.91mn b/d.

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