EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report Commentary

• The 0.98% fall in the US Dollar Index and rallying equity markets are the principal drivers of the market today; the EIA release contained few surprises
• Crude oil stocks ↓1.8 million barrels, vs. ↓0.9 million expected, after refineries increased utilization by 1.6% to 89.1%
• Cushing, OK crude oil inventories ↓0.5 million barrels, sustaining today's $0.15 narrowing of the July/August contango in WTI
• A 128,000 bpd decrease in Distillate product demand helped push inventories ↑1.8 million barrels, vs. ↑0.4 million expected