| Energy
Situation Analysis Report
Last Updated: June 26, 2003
Notice: This is the final update of
this report for the current energy situation. Future Energy Situation
Analysis Reports will be issued if and when energy market events warrant.
Energy Situation Analysis Report Archive (PDF)
Latest Oil Price Information
As of 8:45 am, Thursday, June 26, the near-month WTI futures contract
was at $29.83 per barrel in overnight ACCESS trading, down $0.12 per barrel
from the June 25 closing price.
Latest Oil Price Table
Iraq Oil Developments
Iraq's first post-war crude oil export cargo was loaded at the Turkish
port of Ceyhan on Sunday, June 22. The oil came from stocks that had been
in storage at the port. Exports from the Persian Gulf port of Mina al
Bakr are scheduled to begin on Thursday, June 26.
An Iraqi oil pipeline near Al-Sitha and the River Tigris was on fire
following an explosion on Thursday, June 26. The pipeline was carrying
crude oil to the Baiji refinery north of Baghdad. The blast was the sixth
on fuel pipelines during the past two weeks, according to Adal Al-Kazaz,
director general of Iraq's Northern Oil Company.
An oil pipeline feeding the Doura refinery near Baghdad was set ablaze
on Tuesday, June 24, near the town of Barwanah.
An explosion damaged a natural gas pipeline near Hit in western Iraq
on Sunday, June 22. The explosion is being blamed for the continuing power
cut in Baghdad.
The Iraqi oil ministry announced that it will double the number of guards
protecting oil pipelines from 3,000 to 6,000.
World Oil Market Issues
Venezuelan production
is widely believed -- by striking workers and independent analysts --
to be around 2.5 MMBD. In contrast, the President of state oil company
PdVSA, Ali Rodriguez, has put current crude oil production at 2.92 million
barrels per day, in compliance with the country's current OPEC quota.
Ecuador's oil production has returned to near-normal levels one week
after a nine-day workers' strike ended, according to Ecuador's state oil
company, Petroecuador. However, the Ecuadorian oil workers federation
Fetrapec has threatened to strike again to protest the arrest of union
leaders who were believed to had led the nine-day strike.
Latest OPEC Production Table
Latest
U.S. Petroleum Information
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 9.3 million barrels per day last week,
down 970,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Still, crude oil
imports have averaged 10.0 million barrels per day over the last four
weeks, which is 765,000 barrels per day more than averaged over the same
period last year. Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged nearly
15.5 million barrels per day during the week ending June 20, down 344,000
barrels per day from the previous week. With crude oil imports down significantly,
even a drop in refinery inputs from the previous week could not prevent
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve) falling by 4.1 million barrels. Crude oil inventories
are now 36.8 million barrels less than last year at this time. Motor gasoline
inventories fell by 0.9 million barrels, and are just below the low end
of the normal range. Distillate fuel inventories remained unchanged, as
a 0.7-million-barrel decline in low-sulfur distillate fuel (diesel fuel)
was completely offset by a comparable build in high-sulfur distillate
fuel (heating oil). As of June 20, total commercial inventories are 110.8
million barrels less than last year.
The U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline fell between June
16 and June 23 for the first time in 3 weeks. Prices decreased by 2.2
cents per gallon as of June 23 to reach 149.6 cents per gallon, which
is 11.2 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. Retail diesel fuel prices
decreased for the fourteenth time in 15 weeks, falling 0.9 cent per gallon
as of June 23 to a national average of 142.3 cents per gallon, which is
still 14.2 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
U.S. Petroleum Supply Table
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