US Crude Stocks, Fuel Inventories Fall as Demand Rises, EIA Says

(Reuters) – U.S. crude stocks, gasoline, and distillate inventories fell last week as demand rose, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell by 2.4 million barrels to 418.3 million barrels in the week ended August 22, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.9-million-barrel draw.

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Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub dropped by 838,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.

Oil futures extended gains following the report. Global Brent crude futures were trading at $67.87 a barrel, up 65 cents at 10:36 a.m. EDT (1436 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading at $63.98 a barrel, up 73 cents.

Refinery crude runs fell by 328,000 barrels per day in the week, the EIA said, while utilization rates fell by 2 percentage points to 94.6%, but were sharply up compared to prior year levels of 91.9%.

U.S. gasoline stocks dropped by 1.2 million barrels in the week to 222.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.2-million-barrel draw.

“The gasoline demand number is supportive and shows people are getting ready to travel over the Labor Day weekend,” said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst with Price Futures Group, referencing an upcoming holiday in the United States.

“I think the main story here is that demand remains robust, and refiners have their work cut out for them, which is why they are running at such a high rate,” he added.

Gasoline supplied, a proxy for demand rose to 9.24 million bpd last week, up from 8.84 million, the EIA said.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.8 million barrels in the week to 114.2 million barrels, versus expectations for an 885,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed. Distillate fuel oil demand meanwhile rose to 4.14 million bpd, up from 3.97 million bpd.

Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 299,000 barrels per day, the EIA said, while exports were down 562,000 bpd to 3.81 million bpd.

Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Rod Nickel and Chizu Nomiyama