US Crude Inventories Plummet as Nigerian Oil Imports Surge to Six-Year High
United States crude and fuel inventories experienced significant declines last week while crude imports from Nigeria reached their highest levels since October 2019, according to Energy Information Administration data.
Crude inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels to 440.4 million barrels in the week ending May 23, defying analysts’ expectations for a 118,000-barrel increase. US crude exports rose substantially by 794,000 barrels per day to 4.3 million barrels per day, contributing to the inventory decline.
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo characterized the report as supportive, noting that higher US crude exports resulted in the crude draw, while increased gasoline and diesel demand ahead of Memorial Day contributed to draws in refined product inventories.
Nigerian crude imports jumped dramatically by 358,000 barrels per day to 364,000 barrels per day, marking the highest import figure from the African nation in nearly six years. This surge coincides with Nigeria’s 650,000 barrel per day Dangote refinery experiencing an unplanned outage from April 7 to May 11.
Oil prices rose modestly following the surprise inventory draw, though global Brent crude futures remained down 56 cents to $64.34 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures declined 65 cents to $61.20 per barrel.
Gasoline stocks fell by 2.4 million barrels to 223.1 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles dropped 724,000 barrels to 103.4 million barrels, reaching their lowest levels since April 2005.
Source: reuters.com