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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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4 I! z5 d7 R4 h9 R" A* F1 @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.
3 b: ~0 H* V" \. FOil 'Rally'
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8 }+ Y& i. Z, v( @( E. Q" L3 F0 J: KOne 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. 7 q8 c0 r1 d* c7 s
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.
, ^0 K4 |- o+ |U.S. Oil Inventories Reach 80-Year High
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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. 9 ^+ a4 E. }; P- l4 N2 T3 l, a1 w' X
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. 1 \2 n* _9 G' h; u3 Y
Meanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.
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$ l& U) T$ m/ O0 u( c2 Q: rU.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA1 {. Z" R; {5 a) Z. k
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