inventories/stocks

Global crack spreads remain low amid slow oil demand recovery and high stocks

October 8, 2020

EIA In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that third-quarter 2020 global liquid fuels consumption averaged 94.2 million barrels per day (b/d), an increase from the second quarter but significantly lower than the same time last year. The slow recovery has contributed to low gasoline and diesel crack spreads and high petroleum product stocks in three major

WTI crude oil futures prices fell below zero because of low liquidity and limited available storage

April 22, 2020

EIA On Monday, April 20, 2020, New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil front-month futures prices fell below zero dollars per barrel (b)—at one point, trading at -$40.32/b (Figure 1)—and remained below zero for part of the following trading day. Monday marked the first time the price for the WTI futures contract fell below zero since

EIA forecasts U.S. crude oil production to decline because of low oil prices – STEO foretasted below $45 per barrel through 2021

April 15, 2020

EIA In the April 2020 update of its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released on April 7, and before a recently announced agreement by oil producing countries to limit production, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that U.S. crude oil production will average 11.8 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2020, a 4% decline from the 2019 production levels. Crude oil production

European natural gas storage inventories are at record-high levels at the end of winter

March 24, 2020

EIA European natural gas storage inventories as of March 1, 2020, were 60% full—the highest ever recorded level for the start of March, according to Gas Storage Europe’s Aggregated Gas Storage Inventory (AGSI+). European stock levels for both January and February 2020 were the highest ever recorded for those months. Europe’s high levels of natural gas in storage are the

OPEC shift to maintain market share will cause global inventory increases and lower prices

March 16, 2020

EIA Markets for oil, as well as other commodities and equities, have experienced significant volatility and price declines since the final week in February amid concerns over the economic effects of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). More recently, markets fell after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and partners failed to reach an agreement to continue crude

EIA forecasts natural gas inventories will reach record levels later this year

February 24, 2020

EIA In the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) February Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts that the Lower 48 states’ working natural gas in storage will end the 2019–20 winter heating season (November 1–March 31) at 1,935 billion cubic feet (Bcf), with 12% more inventory than the previous five-year average. This increase is the result of mild winter temperatures and continuing strong