John Kemp's Energy Tweets -- US Crude Oil Imports Surged For The Second Consecutive Week; Highest So Far This Year -- December 16, 2015

Some interesting energy tweets from John Kemp today including the first one:

• US crude oil imports surged for the second week running to 8.3 million b/d, the highest so far this year, at 8.3 million bopd: full story here -- a must read; 
• US refiners processed a seasonal record 16.6 million b/d last week up by +300,000 b/d from 2014
• US gasoline consumption averaged 9.2 million b/d in last 4 weeks, an increase of just +61,000 b/d compared with 2014
• US gasoline stocks adjusted for consumption are exactly with 2014 and long run average:
• US crude oil stocks rose +4.8 million bbl last week and now almost +111 million above prior year level (the graph is staggering)
• US total crude and product stocks rose +5.0 million bbl last wk reversing adecline of -3.6 million bbl the prior wk (the graph is staggering)

With regard to the US economy as a whole, the "gasoline consumption" data point above is most concerning; this does not support an expanding economy.

Imports surged, no doubt, because the US needs heavy oil. Refiners (which are optimized for heavy oil in the US) are processing record levels of crude oil. If US gasoline consumption is barely more today than it was a year ago, where is it going? Overseas.

This might be an interesting graph to come back to a year from now (assuming the US is exporting WTI):

Also, from John Kemp:

The graph is all I need to know about oil prices.

I think the graph would be more useful if he broke it into "larger chunks." For example: $0 - $19.99; $20 - $49.99; $50 - $69.99; $70 - $99.99; >$100.

$0 - $19.99: 65 weeks
$20 - $49.99: 34 weeks
$50 - $69.99: 14 weeks
$70 - $99.99:  14 weeks
> $100: 12 weeks
... and even then, I doubt the data is very meaningful. But it certainly looks like the price of oil above $40 or $50 is an outlier.