Inventories down but still far higher than normal
The headline in today's 29-cent oil rally is that crude oil inventories have fallen for 9 consecutive weeks. That's the most weeks in a row since data collection began in 1982 but it doesn't come close to telling the story.
Oil inventories always fall in the June-August period, which is the peak driving season.
In the big picture, oil inventories are higher then they've ever been at this time of year. I've marked the first week of June on this chart for every year over the past decade. It shows total US oil inventories.
Even this understates the trend because there are huge inventories of gasoline building up because demand in the Summer driving season hasn't been as strong as expected.
