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Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon
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by Tom Randall# Z) [5 @1 B$ ?& `
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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. i7 {- F" G' C+ n
Oil 'Rally'
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/ H) O$ c1 g1 }/ _/ _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.
/ |. V; g: U4 d" O* M: q; `) W2 d, Y) ECrude 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.
) m9 `, |* D. b9 N, [1 l2 r- S0 LU.S. Oil Inventories Reach 80-Year High, v9 @# b. y+ O* u1 ?+ l# j8 t
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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. 5 E3 b' `# b8 v) ~
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.
2 E, i2 b% c+ rMeanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.
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8 a4 s* J; j# x6 VU.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA
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