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Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon
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by Tom Randall% b& M! X. f! c4 H$ S
/ \; z: h3 K7 A1 f: `% mOil 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.
+ {: H! O; N! U" Z! v) E" H- tOil 'Rally': Y3 U" _5 v; A' Z; X
: X" q* P8 J, e7 v& h) pOne 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.
. H* b6 z- e5 ]& P* z I7 }( NCrude 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. ; q! W6 \2 w( E3 r' q f% v) e! F
U.S. Oil Inventories Reach 80-Year High3 p! e5 X5 f' t: n
% C5 ~8 ` Y6 O. w, N! qThe 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. $ c- E d& j0 \7 r( N* J4 ~2 Z
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. i0 ~' f; d8 P$ Z5 T
Meanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.
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/ p! _: N+ p5 BU.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA
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