Saudi Crude Inventories Continue To Decline"
Saudi Arabia reported a progressive decline in domestic crude stocks for 16 of the 19 months between November 2015 and May 2017, according to a new report by Reuters. The news comes as the KSA pressures the United States and Asian countries to lower their domestic inventories and buy new crude supplies, ending the current glut that is keeping oil prices low.
At the end of the period, the Kingdom’s supplies fell to 259 million barrels total – a record low since January 2012. The figure also stands 71 million barrels below a peak in October 2015.
Despite seasonality in the KSA’s domestic oil demand related to heating and refinery maintenance schedules, a downward trend since late 2015 is apparent in the data.
The latest word from the OPEC rumor mill is that de facto bloc leader Saudi Arabia is planning more oil export cuts, causing oil prices to jump earlier this week.
Oil futures jumped up two percent in value after industry consultant Petroleum Policy Intelligence said the KSA had been considering lowering exports by a further 1 million barrels per day."
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Saudi-Crude-Inventories-Continue-To-Decline.html