Crude Oil and Distillate Inventories (Weekly) [DOE]:

• Crude oil inventories: -3.186M (Expected: 1.9M; Previous: 0.922M)
• Crude oil imports: -0.053M (Previous: -0.468M)
• Gasoline: 0.382M (Expected: -1.700M; Previous: -1.684M)
• Gasoline production: -0.117M (Previous: -0.124M)

The report is a significant surprise and a positive price signal for crude oil. Commercial crude oil inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels, while the market expected an increase of 1.9 million. This implies a surprise of about 5.1 million barrels versus consensus. The release is much weaker for refined products and crack spreads. Instead of the expected drop in gasoline inventories, gasoline posted an increase, and distillates declined only marginally. Alongside rising distillate production and higher refinery utilization, this suggests refineries are increasing product supply faster than the market is absorbing it. Oil prices are limiting their reaction to the release, down by around 0.3%.

OIL (M5)

Source: xStation5