US Crude Supplies Post Biggest Weekly Fall Of The Year -- Third Week In A Row For Falling Inventory -- April 26, 2017

Link here.

But that didn't help oil prices which actually fell back. Why? Unexpected inventory increases for gasoline and distillates.

How much did oil inventories fall? Remember, the US has over 500 million bbls of inventory and 32 days of supply. Historically, the US has done just fine with 350 million bbls of inventory and 21 days of supply.

So, how much did crude oil inventories fall? Threepointsix (3.6) million bbls. This was the largest weekly decline so far this year. The forecast ranged from a about a one-million bbl gain to a one-million bbl decline.

The gasoline inventory increase is described as "glaring." Gasoline stockpiles rose by 3.4 million bbls; distillage stockpiles were up 2.7 million bbls. At least one senior petroleum analyst said "this is rather early to see such large builds."

So, I assume the price of gasoline will drop this week. LOL.

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Meanwhile, The Permian Is Expected To Keep Growing

From the EIA:

Crude oil production in the Permian Basin is expected to increase to an estimated 2.4 million barrels per day (b/d) in May, based on estimates from EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report.

Between January 2016 and March 2017, oil production in the Permian Basin increased in all but three months, even as domestic crude oil prices fell.

As production in other regions fell throughout most of 2015 and 2016, the Permian provided a growing share of U.S. crude oil production.

With rising oil prices over the past year, the Permian continues to be attractive to drillers, as reflected in rising rig counts. As of April 21, 2017, the number of rigs in the Permian Basin reached 340, or 40% of the 857 total oil- and natural gas-directed rigs operating in the United States. The Permian rig count reached as high as 568 in late 2014 before falling to a low of 134 in spring 2016. --- EIA