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Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon; e# l/ {* P) V: v! Y( m8 o/ A
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by Tom Randall
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Oil 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. , O3 x8 |. b: l9 {; J
Oil 'Rally'* t& J/ u! p* r/ x
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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.
1 r V4 ]# ?# H4 _% m) jCrude 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.
' z9 B, {# [+ o+ gU.S. Oil Inventories Reach 80-Year High# F( U: C$ q. u# D0 m6 j
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The 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. 3 {5 Z% p) O! j3 ?! B
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. , ]( y4 {3 y! q, R# m
Meanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.0 r2 v! Z r3 K7 G: H
# G+ [, l! }+ v3 \. mU.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA+ T5 M: j. J* J w$ N3 P
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