1. Report Industry Investment Rating - The report implies a relatively bearish outlook for the oil market [8] 2. Report's Core View - The EIA report for the week is a mixed bag, with a significant decline in crude oil inventory exceeding market expectations and a substantial drop in gasoline inventory. However, more forward - looking data shows weakness, such as the decline in refinery operating rates indicating the start of autumn maintenance, and the poor performance of distillates leading to a counter - seasonal increase in inventory, which may promote refinery maintenance. Overall, it is a relatively bearish report [8] 3. Summary by Related Data 3.1 Inventory Data - As of September 12, U.S. commercial crude oil total inventory was 415.361 million barrels, a week - on - week decrease of 9.285 million barrels, far exceeding the expected decrease of 857,000 barrels. Cushing inventory decreased by 296,000 barrels, and strategic reserve inventory increased by 504,000 barrels. Gasoline inventory decreased by 2.347 million barrels, contrary to the expected increase of 1 million barrels, while distillate inventory increased by 4.046 million barrels, exceeding the expected increase of 1 million barrels [2][3] - The total inventory of the U.S. crude oil chain increased by 1.675 million barrels [3] 3.2 Production, Import, and Processing Data - U.S. crude oil production decreased by 13,000 barrels per day to 13.482 million barrels per day [3] - U.S. crude oil net imports decreased by 3.111 million barrels per day to 415,000 barrels per day [3] - U.S. crude oil processing volume decreased by 394,000 barrels per day to 16.424 million barrels per day [3] 3.3 Demand Data - U.S. crude oil terminal apparent demand (four - week smoothing) decreased by 217,250 barrels per day to 20.671 million barrels per day [3] - U.S. gasoline apparent demand (four - week smoothing) decreased by 8,000 barrels per day to 8.91875 million barrels per day [3] - U.S. distillate apparent demand (four - week smoothing) decreased by 86,500 barrels per day to 3.72675 million barrels per day [3] - U.S. jet fuel apparent demand (four - week smoothing) decreased by 69,000 barrels per day to 1.70275 million barrels per day [3] 3.4 Market Impact and Analysis - The large - scale decline in U.S. crude oil inventory last week was mainly due to a significant increase in exports, resulting in a large decrease in net imports. The single - week export data reached 5.277 million barrels per day, a new high since 2024. However, the domestic refinery operating rate decreased by 1.6% to 93.3%, indicating the gradual start of traditional autumn maintenance [4] - In the traditional autumn harvest consumption season, distillate demand decreased instead of increasing, causing inventory to rise during the period of declining refinery operating rates. The current large increase in distillate inventory is counter - seasonal, which may affect distillate cracking and accelerate the progress of refinery autumn maintenance [6] - After the release of the EIA report, oil prices fell slightly and further declined after the Federal Reserve's interest - rate meeting [8]

Report Industry Investment Rating - Not provided in the given content Core View of the Report - The EIA report for the week is relatively bearish due to the unexpected increase in US crude oil inventories and the potential entry of refineries into the autumn maintenance period. The start of autumn maintenance at US refineries under the global crude oil production increase scenario is expected to widen the supply - demand gap. Although distillate demand is strong and inventories are low, which may support the diesel crack spread, the impact of refinery maintenance on crude oil demand will be more reflected in the crude oil market [4][6] Summary According to Relevant Catalogs Inventory Data - As of August 29, US commercial crude oil total inventory was 420.707 million barrels, a week - on - week increase of 2.415 million barrels, contrary to the expected decrease of 2 million barrels. Cushing inventory increased by 1.59 million barrels, and strategic reserve inventory increased by 0.509 million barrels. Gasoline inventory decreased by 3.795 million barrels, exceeding the expected decrease of 1.1 million barrels, while distillate inventory increased by 1.681 million barrels, contrary to the expected decrease of 0.6 million barrels. The total inventory of the US crude oil chain increased by 7.611 million barrels [2][3] Production and Consumption Data - US crude oil production decreased by 16 thousand barrels per day to 13.423 million barrels per day from August 22 to August 29. US crude oil net imports increased by 434 thousand barrels per day to 2.858 million barrels per day. Crude oil processing volume decreased by 11 thousand barrels per day to 16.869 million barrels per day. The four - week smoothed US crude oil terminal apparent demand increased by 132.5 thousand barrels per day, gasoline apparent demand increased by 19.25 thousand barrels per day, distillate apparent demand increased by 12 thousand barrels per day, and jet fuel apparent demand decreased by 0.25 thousand barrels per day [3] Refinery and Market Conditions - US refinery utilization rate declined for the second consecutive week, dropping 0.3% to 94.3%, moving further away from the previous high of nearly 97%. After the report was released, the market generally trended downwards. With the end of the driving peak season after the Labor Day weekend in early September, refinery operations are expected to follow a seasonal decline pattern, which is a bearish factor for crude oil demand [4][6] Product - Specific Analysis - Gasoline inventory decreased significantly before the Labor Day weekend, but the data at the end of the peak season has limited influence. Distillate demand, which rises seasonally with the start of the autumn harvest, remains stable. Although distillate inventory increased, it is still at a low level, and the distillate crack spread is expected to remain strong. However, due to the smaller consumption volume of distillates compared to gasoline, the overall terminal demand is expected to decline in the future [8]