Energy Matters: US Awash in Oil, Outlook Still Bullish

..Weak gasoline prices, with front-month futures below $1.40 a gallon now compared with an average of $1.76 in January, make some imports uneconomical. And because gasoline prices fell much faster than crude, margins turned negative for three days this week for the first time ever, meaning refiners actually would be losing money on each gallon produced. That will inspire refiners to reduce production even beyond planned seasonal shut downs of facilities for routine maintenance work.

..U.S. oil demand is expected to climb by 240,000 barrels a day in the second quarter, according to the EIA, and continue rising to a record fourth-quarter peak of 21.37 million barrels a day, about 1.2 million b/d above the current four-week demand average.

Schlumberger