Cushing oil hub isn’t following national trend of crude oil storage

Oklahoma Oil Hub Bucks National Trend

The amount of stored crude in the U.S. is at its lowest point since April, but at the large oil storage facilities at Cushing, Oklahoma, the trend is moving upward, not downward.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report showed the nation experienced a decline of 2 million barrels of petroleum last week. That represented the ninth weekly decline in the past 10 weeks.

Tom Seng, the Director of the School of Energy Economics, Policy and Commerce at the University of Tulsa’s Collins College of Business recently told Rigzone the stored crude in the U.S. totaled 492 million barrels, the lowest level since April.

“Oil prices are ending the week with a loss as the coronavirus news overtakes a bullish inventory report. The news that President Trump has tested positive for COVID-19 only adds to concerns that the virus is spreading and increasing, both here in the U.S. and globally.”

He said U.S. inventories of crude are still at 13% above the 5-year average for this time of year and a sagging U.S. dollar has not helped oil prices.

At Cushing, the crossroads of crude oil pipelines didn’t follow suit with a decline. Instead, it saw an increase of 1.8 million barrels and currently is at 74% of capacity, a move that counters the national trend.

U.S. crude exports also increased to 3.5 million barrels a day last week, close to the record 3.7 million bpd set in February.

As for total gasoline inventories in the U.S., they increased by 700,000 barrels and “are now down to about 1% above the 5-year average for this time of year.”

Seng said distillates, including heating oil, fell by 1.2 million barrels but are still 21% ahead of their 5-year average before the start of the winter heating season. But adding to the surprise was refinery utilization which rebounded a full point to 75.8%.

Source: Rigzone