EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report Commentary

• Crude oil stocks built 2.0 million barrels overall, though stocks at Cushing, OK drew 0.8 million, after Gulf Coast crude oil imports surged by 501,000 bpd week-on-week to 5.9 million bpd
• Refinery utilization rate ↑1.5% to 89.4% after refineries increased gross inputs by 253,000 bpd
• The contango in WTI is slightly narrower on the draw in Cushing: Aug10/Dec10 is $0.02 tighter at -$0.79
• Neutral motor gasoline: Total mogas inventories ↓0.7 million barrels, in-line with the ↓0.1 million barrels expected
• Somewhat bullish distillate: stocks ↑0.3 million barrels, vs. ↑1.3 million barrels expected