Sharp decline in US strategic oil reserve

Despite the announcements about oil buying, US strategic reserve stocks are down by 3.6 million barrels, the worst indicator since 1983.

Oil inventories in the US Strategic Reserve fell by 3.6 million barrels to 378.6, the worst indicator since 1983.

According to a weekly review by the US Department of Energy, the reserves index has fallen to its lowest level since December 1983, when strategic reserves reached 378.3 million barrels.

A few days ago, the US Department of Energy reported that it would start buying back oil in order to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in the first purchase since the record release this year of 180 million barrels of stock.

A senior official said the ministry would buy 3 million barrels for delivery in February.

This comes in the wake of the plan announced by US President Joe Biden last spring to confront the rise in oil prices.

At that time, this program stipulated the withdrawal of a total of 180 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserve.

OPEC raised its expectations for US oil production in 2022, expecting a growth of 0.56 million barrels per day, to reach 11.82 million barrels per day, and in 2023 the figure may rise to 12.6 million barrels per day.

According to the OPEC report for the month of December, “given the current pace of drilling wells and pumping them into oil fields, oil production is expected to grow by 0.6 million barrels per day, with an average of 11.8 million barrels per day in 2022”.

In 2023, an increase of 0.81 million bpd to 12.59 million bpd was expected.

It is noteworthy that the average oil production in the country in 2021 reached 11.25 million barrels per day, according to the organization’s report.