Global Automotive Sales Data

Day 200 — The EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending Sep 11, released Sep 16, put the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at 285.0M barrels, down 403,000 on the week and 39.9% of the 714M-barrel authorized capacity, its lowest level since Nov 5, 1982 (EIA). The same report showed US commercial crude down 640,000 barrels to 423.4M, against an American Petroleum Institute estimate a day earlier of a 7.1M-barrel build. gCaptain, citing Fox News, reported Iranian missiles and drones struck a US-contracted vessel carrying American personnel near the strait; no casualty count has been published. Iranian media reported a separate strike on an Iranian cargo ship in the strait killed one person, a claim no major wire has carried. Saudi Aramco is reported to be bypassing the damaged section of the East-West pipeline, aiming to restore about half its capacity within days and full operation in roughly six weeks. AAA's national diesel average set a fourteenth consecutive record at $6.3956/gal and California diesel a fresh state record at $8.3496/gal.