Keystone XL South Leg Not Mentioned, But Probably Explains A Lot

Rigzone is reporting:

The price of oil rose above $103 / barrel Thursday on a drop in supplies at the main U.S. oil trading hub and signs of growing gasoline demand in the U.S.

Benchmark crude for July delivery rose 86 cents to close at $103.58 a barrel in New York.

Brent crude, a benchmark for international oil used by many U.S. refineries, rose 16 cents to close at $109.97 a barrel in London.

The Energy Department said Thursday that supplies fell by 1.5 million barrels last week in Cushing, Oklahoma, where U.S. benchmark crude is priced, although overall U.S. inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels.

Gasoline supplies fell by 1.8 million barrels, suggesting demand for fuel is strong and refiners will need to buy more oil to keep up.

Two data points, one not mentioned. The first data point: why supply inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels last week in Cushing, OK. Keystone XL South? As a reminder, this is how much oil is going into the Keystone XL South every week.

Second data point:  Gasoline supplies fell by 1.8 million barrels, suggesting demand for fuel is strong and refiners will need to buy more oil to keep up.  I assume this data did NOT include the 3-day Memorial Day weekend.

See for the graphic for gasoline demand at this post.