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Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon
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by Tom Randall
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Oil just had its first weekly decline in a month, breaking a rally in crude prices. A bit of context: After what's happened over the last year, "rally" seems a bit of an overstatement. * i! }% y/ G: F2 t
Oil 'Rally'% }3 h* R1 ]; U/ K3 h- D# A, @$ `
8 V$ H5 r: g! {3 O5 E! POne big factor that may be driving prices down this week: The U.S. is pumping so much oil it's running out of places to stash it. ' M! e+ H( z; F; q+ J
Crude oil in storage in the U.S. has jumped to the highest levels in at least 80 years, according to a Bloomberg Industries analysis. The EIA this week reported that U.S. inventories rose 7.7 million barrels to 425.6 million. That's more than 20 percent higher than the five-year average.
6 B! C& r O( M/ _* cU.S. Oil Inventories Reach 80-Year High% L. R5 n6 o l- E- A' }& T
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The buildup of supply has been "colossal" and is responsible for oil prices falling this week, Thomas Finlon, director of Energy Analytics Group LLC, told Bloomberg News. n. P, ~6 t2 ]4 F( z/ U( w
Winter weather and refinery outages have contributed to the supply glut. Even when those conditions subside, topped-out inventories and continued production growth may continue to suppress oil prices for the near- and medium-term, according to Bloomberg Industries.
% j. S' ^- s, e, H6 lMeanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.
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! G" q' |+ `3 V4 c4 T# c, {U.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA
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