EIA DATA: Distillate stocks at 2023 low as exports, deliveries jump
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – US distillate fuel stocks dropped to their lowest since the end of last year as deliveries jumped to a five-month high while net exports climbed back above 1 million bpd, weekly EIA data showed Wednesday.
In what was their largest weekly stock drop since last October, distillate fuel inventories sank by 3.6 million barrels on the week to just above 113m bbls to bring stocks back in line with year-ago levels and some 11m bbls below the five-year average.
The weekly move matched figures published by the API on Tuesday evening, while analysts polled by Reuters pegged the weekly drop at a mere 0.4m bbls.
NY Harbor ULSD futures jumped around 2% in the initial minutes after the release of the data to hit an intraday high of $2.7255/gal, before easing slightly.
The sharp drop came as deliveries jumped by over 500,000 bpd on the week to 4.24 million bpd, its highest since late October and 11% (400k bpd) above the five-year average for late March.
Exports meanwhile recovered some of the prior week's losses, rising to 1.134m bpd, while imports slowed, meaning the net outflow rose back above 1m bpd – in line with rates since during the first half of March.
Domestic production was marginally higher at 4.74m bpd –even as crude refining slid back below 15.7m bpd – but down still 6% on year-ago levels.
Jet fuel
Jet fuel stocks eased from their 2023 high hit during the week to March 24 to fall to just above 38 million barrels by the end of March, down 0.2m bbls on the week and 5.5% above year-ago levels.
Deliveries swung higher to 1.69m bpd, up 247k bpd, some 17% above the same week in 2021 and at its highest since the end-of-year holiday period in December.
Output was unchanged at just under 1.7m bpd, and 12% above last year’s levels.
Finally, trade was more or less static, with 160k bpd being exported over the course of the week while imports averaged at 134k bpd, both slightly up, but leaving the net outflow unchanged.
