US oil inventories dive as imports fall, utilization jumps.

摘要

The EIA reported that crude and product inventories tumbled over the week ending Nov. 17 by 11.0MM bbl to 724.1MM bbl, marking the eighth consecutive weekly decline. Crude stocks saw their largest drop in more than 14 months, falling 7.29MM bbl to 357.6MM bbl, due to a 226K-b/d slide in imports and a surprise increase in refinery utilization of 1.6 percentage points to 84%. "It appears the import drop combined with rising refinery utilization produced a good part of the draw in crude, particularly in [the] PADD 3 [Gulf Coast region]," remarked Tom Bentz, a broker at BNP Paribas. "It could be that refiners are using inventory on hand.. .as they tend to reduce stocks ahead of the end of the year."