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Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon7 U& P7 F) n9 Y
) h$ w6 }7 S/ @4 \by Tom Randall9 p7 F/ w( A D3 c) F
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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. , X) F: v2 b2 r
Oil 'Rally'2 l4 q* p6 u( x2 v, H$ [
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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.
) p. Q8 O- r2 C1 _; o% [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. & g" W- O7 X M! ? a% [* |- A! z" b. e
U.S. Oil Inventories Reach 80-Year High2 r C& g+ g! H
- W N# K: O1 FThe 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. 9 `" {! U5 t8 X, s/ c& J
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. % _. r5 a7 B: Q
Meanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.
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# n, S* y x. J' S# y8 yU.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA
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