石油石化行业：OPEC产量继续减少，Brent和ESPO原油现货价格上涨

Investment Rating - The industry investment rating is "Positive" [1][33]. Core Insights - OPEC production continues to decrease, while Brent and ESPO crude oil spot prices have increased. As of October 18, Brent crude oil spot price was $74.45 per barrel, up by $1.44 (1.97%) from the previous month. ESPO crude oil spot price was $69.70 per barrel, up by $2.63 (3.92%). In contrast, WTI crude oil spot price was $70.67 per barrel, down by $0.52 (0.73%) [2][11]. - In September, OPEC crude oil production reached 26,044 thousand barrels per day, a decrease of 604 thousand barrels per day (2.27%) from the previous month, and a year-on-year decrease of 1,711 barrels per day (6.16%) [11][12]. - The U.S. crude oil export volume increased, averaging 3,917.25 thousand barrels per day in September, up by 144.05 thousand barrels per day (3.82%) from the previous month. However, China's crude oil export volume saw a significant decrease of 54.98% month-on-month, while it increased by 81.14% year-on-year [2][26]. Summary by Sections Oil Prices - Brent crude oil futures settlement price was $73.06 per barrel, down by $0.59 (0.80%) from the previous month. WTI crude oil futures settlement price was $69.22 per barrel, down by $1.69 (2.38%) [4][5]. Supply and Demand - OPEC crude oil production decreased in September, with a total of 26,044 thousand barrels per day, reflecting a month-on-month decline of 604 thousand barrels per day (2.27%) [11][12]. - U.S. refinery utilization rate was 87.7% as of October 11, down by 4.40 percentage points from the previous month. The supply of petroleum products increased to 20,697 thousand barrels per day, up by 905 thousand barrels per day (4.57%) [2][16]. Inventory - As of October 11, total U.S. crude oil and petroleum product inventory was 1,635,840 thousand barrels, a decrease of 27,334 thousand barrels (1.64%) from the previous month. U.S. crude oil inventory increased to 804,432 thousand barrels, up by 6,313 thousand barrels (0.79%) [19][22]. Imports and Exports - In September, China's crude oil imports were 45.49 million tons, down by 3.61 million tons (7.35%) from the previous month. U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6,445 thousand barrels per day, down by 21.25 thousand barrels per day (0.33%) [26][27].