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Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon, Y" `- n! S. q7 [+ f
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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. ! d6 s) \ K+ ?6 _8 h/ d
Oil 'Rally'; w+ L8 V0 d) A+ } e" V J
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One 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 B* L/ B: N: ?. u6 a+ GCrude 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. / y8 K+ ^5 \6 e! |% z5 n* L
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. 8 [7 q5 j6 f; {; ~
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. 4 b/ _- y. w# D8 t5 C
Meanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.% [6 f: h/ R, ^( `9 q3 s
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U.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA* i+ a# `. r( \7 O, u. P! v" F% L
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