The Week In Numbers for the Week Ending 7-22-2016

Each week, we strive to provide you a bare bones summary of what happened to the price of WTI, Natural Gas, and Brent Crude. In addition, we summarize the major reports from

Genspace, API, and EIA on Inventory Data. And we also throw in the rig count for good measure.

WTI Open on July 18, 2016: $46.12

WTI as of 12:00 on July 22, 2016: $43.92

Brent Open on July 18, 2016: $47.92

Brent as of 12:00 PM on July 22, 2016: $45.36

Natural Gas Open on July 18, 2016: $2.775

NG as of 12:00 PM on July 22, 2016: $2.776

On July 18, 2016, Genscape released Cushing Inventory data for this week. Cushing is the largest oil storage tank in the world, and is the settlement point for crude oil futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. According to Genscape, Inventory increased 171,511 barrels compared to an increase of 230,026 barrels the week before at the Cushing settlement point.

On July 19, 2016, API reported its weekly inventory draw for the prior week. According to API, US Crude inventories decreased by 2,300,000 barrels. This compares to an increase of 2,200,000 barrels last week. However, gasoline inventories increased by 800,000 barrels instead of an expected increase of 500,000 barrels. This report was negative for the price of oil as the continued increase in gasoline inventories, particularly during the summer driving season, may be negative for future inventory draws.

On July 20, 2016, the Energy Information Administration released weekly data for the prior week. The EIA weekly report, included the following important notes:

- U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.9 million barrels per day during the week ending July 15, 2016, 319,000 barrels per day more than the previous week’s average. Refineries are operating at 93.2% capacity.

- U.S. Crude imports averaged about 8.1 million barrels per day last week, up by 293,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

- U.S. commercial crude inventories decreased by 2.3 million barrels from the previous week. At 519.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories remain at historically high levels fro this time of year.

On Friday, July 22, 2016 Baker Hughes released the weekly rig count data. The US oil rig count rose by 14 to 371. This is the fourth weekly increase. The number of gas only rigs fell by 1 to 88. and miscellaneous rigs were up by 2, taking the total to 462.