Petroleum deliveries last month highest for December since 2007, API says

Total petroleum deliveries in December increased to 20.7 million barrels per day, the highest monthly level for December since 2007, the American Petroleum Institute (API) recently said in a press release.

Total domestic petroleum deliveries for 2017 rose by 1 percent year-on-year, despite increasing oil prices over the second half of the year.

U.S. oil production increased in December to 9.75 million barrels per day (b/d), a 47-year high, an increase of 11.1 percent from December 2016 and 0.6 percent from November. For 2017, U.S. crude oil production rose by 4.9 percent from 2016 levels.

U.S. exports of crude oil and refined products increased up by nearly 1 million b/d.

“Historically, solid global and U.S. economic growth have set the stage for strong oil and gas industry activity,” API Chief Economist Dean Foreman said. “Upstream drilling began 2018 on a strong note with rigs up 35 percent from a year ago, and downstream refinery utilization of 94.8 percent in December was the third highest rate in more than 12 years. Oil demand goes hand-in-hand with economic growth, and leading economic indicators have continued to suggest expanding business conditions.”

Consumer gasoline demand, as measured by total motor gasoline deliveries, rose by 0.5 percent from a year ago to 9.3 MBD, which was the strongest December since 2006 and the highest annual gasoline deliveries on record. Consequently, annual 2017 gasoline demand was the highest on record and reflected a combination of solid economic growth and relatively low prices.

Natural gas liquids production reached record levels for December of nearly 4 million b/d, an increase of 6.3 percent since November and 17.8 percent from December 2016. U.S. dry natural gas production averaged a record-high 78.1 billion cubic feet per day during December 2017, an increase of 1.1 percent from November and 9.8 percent from December 2016.

API published its Monthly Statistical Report for free on its website for the first time this month and will continue to do so. January’s report provides estimates through December 2017.