OECD Oil Inventories Drop Below 1B Barrels as Mideast Unrest Spreads

OECD’s crude oil inventories dropped 2.07 percent in June from the previous month and 2.36 percent on a YoY basis. OECD industrial crude oil stocks were listed at 989.6 million barrels (mmbbls) at the end of June 2013. This was still above the historical average of 925 mmbbls over the past twenty years. However, inventories dropped below 1 billion barrels for the first time since March 2013.

OECD crude oil inventories

The first breach of this average was seen in May 1998 when crude oil inventories jumped 14 percent in one month to touch 1,008 mmbbls. December 1999 saw the return to normal for OECD crude oil inventories as they receded back below 900 mmbbls.