BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 19. Industry oil stocks in OECD Europe in December 2023 decreased by 11.2 mb to 884.5 mb, Trend reports.
According to the data provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA), this marked 64.3 mb below the 2018-2022 average level.
The majority of this decline was attributed to a decrease in crude oil inventories (-10 mb), followed by reductions in Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) and feedstocks (-2.5 mb), the agency explains. The combined inventories of crude oil, NGLs, and feedstocks reached 389.7 mb, marking the lowest level since January 2022.
Conversely, the IEA noted that oil product inventories experienced a modest increase of 1.3 mb, aligning closely with seasonal expectations. Mainly, middle distillates recorded the sole increase among product categories, rising by 2.7 mb, primarily due to subdued regional diesel demand, although they remained below the seasonal average.
Other product inventories decreased by 1.2 mb, driven largely by a decline in Italy (-1.8 mb). Fuel oil stocks remained relatively stable, with an increase in Italy (+1.2 mb) offset by a decrease in the Netherlands (-1.3 mb).