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Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon2 u8 ?% U: b& N8 H# v5 E
# g( i2 c- K! G, o' z; ?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.
6 R0 A+ L T$ Q7 Z$ f8 GOil 'Rally'
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k5 a% L8 u$ [% `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.
% F O* L9 O7 V# ~* M! mCrude 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.
h+ s/ {* Z/ w; z. d0 X, eU.S. Oil Inventories Reach 80-Year High4 G) h7 f! m) U
. v, t3 x2 q/ k: F7 g9 f% YThe 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. 7 a8 d8 o# Q" F3 I
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.
$ `1 F- J8 D$ V& f d* R) ?: Z3 nMeanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.! a. Z% B( Y5 Q2 f3 n" K# t
" F" c9 u5 a6 B: OU.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA( l; Y, B- b2 F% j: I
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