BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 3. Industrial oil stocks in OECD Europe experienced an unusual decline of 4.3 mb, bringing the total to 944.4 mb in May 2023, Trend reports.
According to the data received from the International Energy Agency (IEA), this drop was driven by a decrease in product inventories, despite higher crude oil stocks. The deficit against the five-year average reached 49.5 mb, the largest among the three OECD regions.
Meanwhile, crude oil inventories saw an increase of 3.3 mb, reaching their highest level since January 2021. Stocks of NGL (Natural Gas Liquids) and feedstock edged up by 0.6 mb. On the other hand, product inventories saw a substantial decline of 8.2 mb, contrasting with the historical average increase of 2.8 mb.
As the IEA explained, the majority of the decrease in stocks occurred in the "other product" category, falling by 7.9 mb and reaching its lowest level in 13 months. Gasoline stocks also dropped by 3.6 mb, marking their third consecutive monthly decrease. In contrast, middle distillate inventories increased by 2.5 mb, following the seasonal average.
Furthermore, fuel oil stocks showed a marginal increase of 0.8 mb. The overall reduction in oil product stocks, along with the rise in crude, NGL, and feedstock inventories, is primarily attributed to reduced refinery throughput rates in the region, down by 240 kb/d month-on-month, rather than increased demand in May.
According to the IEA, preliminary data for June from Euroilstock indicate a 2 mb decline in overall inventories. Crude oil stocks remained unchanged as builds in the Netherlands (up by 2.6 mb) and France (up by 1.5 mb) were offset by decreases, mainly in the UK (down by 1.8 mb). Gasoline and middle distillate inventories both decreased by 1 mb, with significant changes observed in Germany for gasoline (down by 1.7 mb) and Austria for middle distillates (down by 1.1 mb). Fuel oil and naphtha stocks remained largely stable.