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Strategies & Market Trends : Strictly: Drilling II -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Shread who wrote (16361)	7/23/2002 6:14:03 PM
From: Jon Cave	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 36161

API: reports huge draw in oil stocks (REUTERS) US crude oil stocks hit 9-month low on gasoline demand US crude oil stocks hit 9-month low on gasoline demand API REPORT FOR WEEK CHANGE FROM WEEK CHANGE FROM WEEK ENDED 07/19/02 ENDED 07/12/02 ENDED 07/20/01 CRUDE.........307.35 MLN DOWN 6.01 MLN DOWN 7.92 MLN GASOLINE......214.03 MLN DOWN 1.29 MLN DOWN 1.23 MLN DISTILLATE....131.95 MLN DOWN 2.35 MLN UP 11.45 MLN RFG.......... 45.85 MLN UP 0.43 MLN DOWN 3.88 MLN UTILIZATION... 94.4 PCT DOWN 0.6 PTS UP 0.1 PTS IMPLIED GASOLINE DEMAND 9.44 MILLION BPD NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil stocks plummeted to a nine-month low last week as summer gasoline demand raced up, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday. Crude stocks fell 6 million barrels in the week ending July 19 to drop nearly 8 million barrels below the same time last year, according to the API, an industry group. Crude stocks have fallen by more than 16 million barrels over the last three weekly reports and are now at their lowest level since last October. Gasoline supplies fell 1.3 million barrels as consumption soared at the height of the summer driving season. Implied gasoline demand rose more than 440,000 barrels to 9.44 million barrels per day, according to the API report. A surprise 2.35 million barrels fall in distillate supplies -- cutting into a glut that threatens to weigh on refining margins in the latter part of the year -- reinforced the report's bullish tone. September oil futures on afterhours ACCESS were up 35 cents to $26.66 a barrel at 1745 EDT (2145 GMT). Analysts were puzzled by the size of the crude draw as crude imports were steady to most regions of the country and refinery usage slipped by 0.6 percentage points. "We have either incredible demand out there or the government is letting more crude into the Strategic Petroleum Reserves than they are letting on," said analyst Phil Flynn with Alaron Research in Chicago. "It doesn't make sense to me," said another analyst, noting the slip in refinery usage. "I'm going to wait for the DOE numbers tomorrow before I believe the numbers," he said, referring to the federal Department of Energy stocks report due out before the market opens on Wednesday. The sharpest crude stocks fall was a 5.4 million barrels drop in the U.S. Gulf refining center. In the pivotal U.S. Midwest market where stocks have dwindled sharply in recent weeks, supplies edged up by 510,000 barrels last week. The distillates stock draw was led by a 3.2 million barrels fall in diesel fuel stocks, cutting into a giant pre-winter surplus. Total distillate stocks, including heating oil are still 11.5 million barrels above last year, swelled by moderate industrial demand, sluggish consumption of jet fuel, and cheap prices for rival fuel natural gas. ((--Timothy Gardner, New York Energy Desk, +1 646-223-6058; fax +1 646-223-6078, timothy.gardner@reuters.com)) REUTERS * end of story *