US crude levels plummet, product inventories rise as refinery runs jump.

摘要

Combined EIA crude and product inventories dropped over the week ending July 16 by 4.9MM bbl to 713.8MM bbl, due entirely to a 7.6MM-bbl tumble in crude oil stocks to 375.OMM bbl. The decline in crude levels was more than triple what analysts had expected, and was due despite an increase in imports as refinery utilization climbed 2.2 percentage points to 93.8% of total capacity, the highest rate since Aug. 2005. Also, crude stocks held at the NYMEX WTI delivery point of Cushing, Oklahoma fell 650K bbl to 20.27MM bbl.