U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles Rise Less than Expected in Week
U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose less than expected last week as imports fell and refinery runs rose, while gasoline and distillate inventories drew down, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose 2.3 million barrels in the week to March 25 to 534.8 million barrels, the seventh week at record high levels, but the build was smaller than analysts’ expectations for an increase of 3.3 million barrels.
U.S. crude imports fell 636,000 barrels per day to 7.4 million bpd.
“(The) Large decline in imports likely contributed to the smaller-than-expected crude oil build,” said Dominic Chirichella, senior partner of the Energy Management Institute. “Most of crude import decline was in Gulf Coast.”
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for futures fell 272,000 barrels, the EIA said. The decline marked the second weekly draw after the hub hit record highs.
Oil prices extended their gains after the data. U.S. crude futures rose $1.02, or 2.5 percent, to $39.30 a barrel, and Brent was up $1.03, or 2.6 percent, at $40.17 by 11:02 a.m. ET.
Refinery crude runs rose 414,000 bpd and refinery utilization rates rose 2 percentage points to 90.4 percent of total capacity, the highest rate seasonally since 2005.
“The escalation in runs says there’s more juice on the way, headed for the products tanks,” said Donald Morton, energy trader at Herbert J. Sims & Co in Fairfield, Connecticut. “I’ll be careful with any length given the product builds coming.”
Gasoline stocks fell 2.5 million barrels, close to forecasts for a 2.2 million-barrel drop.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell 1.1 million barrels, versus expectations for a 29,000-barrel build, the EIA data showed.
