Crude Inventories Declined By 4.2 Million Barrels

On May 30, 2024, EIA released its Weekly Petroleum Status Report. The report indicated that crude inventories declined by 4.2 million barrels, compared to analyst consensus of -1.95 million barrels. At current levels, crude inventories are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of the year.

Gasoline inventories increased by 2.0 million barrels, while analysts expected that they would decline by 0.4 million barrels. Distillate fuel inventories grew by 2.5 million barrels.

Crude oil imports increased by 106,000 bpd, averaging 6.8 million bpd. The four-week average for crude oil imports is 6.8 million bpd.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased from 368.8 million barrels to 369.3 million barrels as U.S. continued to buy oil for reserves.

Domestic oil production remained unchanged at 13.1 million bpd. Current oil price levels are not attractive to raise production above current levels.

WTI oil is trying to settle above the $79.00 level as traders react to the EIA report. While the significant decline in crude inventories is a bullish sign, rising gasoline inventories may put some pressure on the market. At this point, WTI oil needs significant positive catalysts to settle above the nearest resistance level at $79.00 – $80.00.

Brent oil  settled near the $83.00 level after the release of the EIA report. The technical picture for Brent oil remains unchanged as it needs to settle above the resistance at $83.50 – $84.50 to gain sustainable upside momentum.

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