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Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon" t- D: ], u* _+ M
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by Tom Randall
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' _8 K* h: p6 f" N# B# fOil just had its first weekly decline in a month, breaking a rally in crude prices. A bit of context: After what's happened over the last year, "rally" seems a bit of an overstatement.
6 j! ^0 B' `' c! x& g! COil 'Rally'
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One big factor that may be driving prices down this week: The U.S. is pumping so much oil it's running out of places to stash it. 6 {& i0 E1 c% ?9 _# d2 I6 F4 ]
Crude oil in storage in the U.S. has jumped to the highest levels in at least 80 years, according to a Bloomberg Industries analysis. The EIA this week reported that U.S. inventories rose 7.7 million barrels to 425.6 million. That's more than 20 percent higher than the five-year average.
: H5 _& b% R% l. ?8 fU.S. Oil Inventories Reach 80-Year High) z j/ W/ u1 o7 b6 h
+ j; ?! H0 {; R# s* j( U( V# X3 cThe buildup of supply has been "colossal" and is responsible for oil prices falling this week, Thomas Finlon, director of Energy Analytics Group LLC, told Bloomberg News. ! [6 L. B1 D$ ?; w; z4 B8 {3 p
Winter weather and refinery outages have contributed to the supply glut. Even when those conditions subside, topped-out inventories and continued production growth may continue to suppress oil prices for the near- and medium-term, according to Bloomberg Industries.
4 t/ u) c- }5 ~- NMeanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.$ R# C) d7 O4 v2 J- ]% d* _
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U.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA
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