The nation’s stockpiles of commercial crude oil plunged by 11.5 million barrels last week thanks to record-high crude exports, adding more bullish news to oil prices that already were spiking worldwide amid an escalating U.S. conflict with Iran.
The U.S. exported nearly 4.5 million barrels of crude per day last week – easily a new weekly record – as concerns of a new war brewed in the Middle East.
The big drop in crude inventories was offset by gains in refined motor gasoline – 3.2 million barrels – and in distillate fuel oil – 8.8 million barrels – that’s used to make diesel and heating oils. However, drops in other grades of oils contributed to a cumulative dip of 2.9 million barrels of total U.S. petroleum stocks.
This new year is the first in which the U.S. is expected to become a net exporter of petroleum, including refined products. But the U.S. will remain a net importer of crude oil.
The U.S. is churning out an estimated record high of 12.9 million barrels of crude oil per day and exporting – at least last week – more than one-third of those supplies.
Crude prices jumped about 4 percent Thursday evening and Friday morning after President Trump ordered the targeted killing of a top Iranian general and an allied Iraqi militia leader.
The U.S. benchmark for oil traded well above $63 a barrel on Friday – its highest level in nearly nine months.
The killings – and the potential Iranian counterattacks – put the U.S. and Iran on the brink of a broader conflict and potential war.
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