Energy Inventories

For the week ending June 6th, US crude oil inventories showed yet another larger than expected drawdown.  As the chart of current oil inventories versus their historical average indicates, crude oil stockpiles have rapidly declined at a time when they should be peaking.  In fact, the four-week decline of 23.6 million barrels represents the third largest four-week decline since the government began tracking the data in 1984.

While crude oil inventories have shown a sharp decline, inventory levels for gasoline and distillates are more inline with their historical averages.  In fact, while gasoline inventories remain slightly below average, the spread between current and average distillate inventories (which had been a major concern earlier in the year) is at its highest levels of the year (lower chart on left).