US commercial crude inventories rose by 4.4 million barrels as distillate stocks thinned. Meanwhile, fuel drove a monthly decline in US import prices, and British producer input prices slowed as crude oil became cheaper at the factory gate.
US commercial crude inventories rose 4.4 million barrels to 428.8 million barrels in the week to 14 August, matching the five-year average, while distillate stocks fell 1.5 million barrels. Refineries ran at 97.2 per cent of operable capacity and processed 17.4 million barrels a day. Crude imports fell 746 thousand barrels a day to 6.6 million barrels a day.[1]
US import prices fell 0.4 per cent in July but were 5.9 per cent higher than a year earlier. Nonfuel import prices rose 0.4 per cent over the month and 4.5 per cent over the year, leaving fuel as the source of the monthly decline. Export prices fell 1.3 per cent on the month and rose 8.2 per cent on the year.[2]
British producer input prices rose 4.9 per cent in the year to July, down from 7.4 per cent in June. Crude oil supplied most of the slowdown. The input price of crude oil fell 18.0 per cent between June and July, taking its annual rate from 41.9 per cent to 10.6 per cent. Factory gate prices rose 3.1 per cent over the year.[3]
