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Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon
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by Tom Randall
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Oil just had its first weekly decline in a month, breaking a rally in crude prices. A bit of context: After what's happened over the last year, "rally" seems a bit of an overstatement. 3 g4 V* j9 Y7 ^8 ?. r6 h% Z+ p- m- K3 T
Oil 'Rally'
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One big factor that may be driving prices down this week: The U.S. is pumping so much oil it's running out of places to stash it. : g+ p' s1 j3 E- h
Crude oil in storage in the U.S. has jumped to the highest levels in at least 80 years, according to a Bloomberg Industries analysis. The EIA this week reported that U.S. inventories rose 7.7 million barrels to 425.6 million. That's more than 20 percent higher than the five-year average. 6 t4 Y1 Q( x0 Z( `6 U, H
U.S. Oil Inventories Reach 80-Year High0 B K& ? ]4 q" d: E) o0 c
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The buildup of supply has been "colossal" and is responsible for oil prices falling this week, Thomas Finlon, director of Energy Analytics Group LLC, told Bloomberg News.
2 @# `, D; ^' G. pWinter weather and refinery outages have contributed to the supply glut. Even when those conditions subside, topped-out inventories and continued production growth may continue to suppress oil prices for the near- and medium-term, according to Bloomberg Industries. 3 j1 W8 c c9 Z1 g8 p8 `3 |4 A
Meanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.% A: y8 M) O; a9 Z- A& o* _
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U.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA/ Q6 ?( j* F6 [3 g1 B# l
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