Volumes at the crude oil storage hub of Cushing, OK, rose by 1.5 MMbbl to nearly 34 MMbbl in the week ended December 22. Although they remain well below the 2023 high of 43 MMbbl in the week ended June 23, it was the 10th consecutive weekly increase. (See graphic below.)
Featured Articles
- Blog
I Still Haven't Found All the Crude Storage I'm Looking For - PADD 2
The famous Field of Dreams misquote “If you build it, they will come” certainly has proved true for the midstream companies that added a record 18.7 MMbbl of crude oil storage capacity in PADD 2 in late 2015 and early 2016. During that six-month period, crude inventories in PADD 2 blasted 24.4 MMbbl higher to a record 155.6 MMbbl. And while PADD 2 oil stockpiles have been shrinking somewhat in recent weeks, they remain above 150 MMbbl—a mark the PADD had never seen before this year. Storage levels have been particularly high at the Cushing, OK storage and distribution hub within PADD 2. Why is so much crude being socked away? Today, we continue our look at the new storage capacity being added in the U.S., and at why demand for storage has been so high.
- Analyst Insight
Exports Could Rise to Avoid End-of-Year Crude Storage Tax
Crude oil exports and inventories at Cushing could be on the rise as owners of crude oil stored in Tx and La look to move barrels to reduce their annual ad valorem taxes, which are imposed on crude oil inventories at the end of December.
- Blog
Downhill Lullaby - E&Ps Reap Record 2022 Profits, But Eroding Q4 Returns Harken a Less Idyllic 2023
Last August, we titled our review of Q2 2022 E&P financial results Camelot after rising oil prices and surging natural gas realizations drove revenues, profits and cash flows to levels that seemed like an unrealizable dream for producers that had teetered on the brink of financial instability just two years before. Recent year-end results revealed the strongest returns in the industry’s history, much of which were distributed to long-suffering shareholders. But dreams fade and prices retreat, and Q4 2022 results suggest a far less idyllic 2023. In today’s RBN blog, we review the record 2022 performance and more sobering Q4 results.
