MOSCOW (MRC) -- US crude stocks fell for the sixth straight week as refiners ramped up output in response to rising demand, reported Reuters with reference to the Energy Information Administration.
Crude inventories fell by 6.7 million barrels in the week to June 25 to 452.3 million barrels, a steeper drop than the 4.7 million barrels expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.
That drawdown came as a result of increased refining activity, with crude runs rising by 187,000 barrels per day to bring refinery utilization rates to 92.9% of total capacity, the EIA said.
"Generally the report reflects the strong reopening of the economy, very strong demand and refiners are responding," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group.
Gasoline production rose to 9.6 million bpd, as the four-week average of product supplied came in at nearly 20 million bpd, another signal of improved U.S. demand for fuel. Product supplied, a measure of demand, is far outpacing 2020's coronavirus-influenced slump, but is still about 4% short of 2019's demand.
US gasoline stocks rose by 1.5 million barrels in the week to 241.6 million barrels, while analysts hae expected a 886,000-barrel drop.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 869,000 barrels versus expectations for a 486,000-barrel rise.
Net US crude imports fell in late June by 603,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
As MRC informed earlier, OPEC and its allies appear in striking distance of a deal on production quotas, discussing proposals that call for an output increase of about 2 million b/d from August to December to meet recovering global oil demand. If agreed, the OPEC+ alliance's collective production cuts would shrink by about one-third by the end of the year to about 3.76 million b/d, from July's 5.76 million b/d.
We remind that Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world's third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
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