EIA: U.S. Crude Production Down 5.8%

U.S. production has dropped 5.8 percent over the past year, while OPEC countries continue to boost output, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) today.

The U.S. is now experiencing its lowest drop in production since September 2014, according to Bloomberg, with output dropping by 113,000 barrels per day last week, reaching 8.825 million barrels.

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According to Bloomberg, this indicates that the U.S. is losing the output battle with OPEC.

At the same time, the EIA noted that crude oil stockpiles increased to new records last week, up 2.8 million barrels in the week to 29 April. That put inventories at 543.4 million barrels. This was roughly one million barrels more than analysts had anticipated. Related: Oil Prices Fall Back as Rally Hits a Ceiling

In the Midwest and on the East Coast, crude stockpiles were higher than at any time since 1990.

According to the EIA, "U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.0 million barrels per day during the week ending April 29, 2016, 139,000 barrels per day more than the previous week's average."

Refineries operated at 89.7 percent of their operable capacity last week.

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The report highlighted that gasoline demand remains strong.

In terms of prices, the EIA noted: "The WTI price was $45.98 per barrel on April 29, 2016, $3.22 above last week's price but $13.12 below a year ago. The spot price for conventional gasoline in the New York Harbor was $1.571 per gallon, $0.067 higher than last week's price but $0.376 lower than a year ago. The spot price for ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel in the New York Harbor was $1.385 per gallon, $0.071 over last week's price but $0.599 under a year ago."

By James Burgess of Oilprice.com

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