(Reuters) – U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories rose unexpectedly last week as both exports and demand fell sharply, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 3.8 million barrels to 419 million barrels in the week ending June 27, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.8 million-barrel draw.
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Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 1.5 million barrels.
Oil prices pared earlier gains following the unexpected build in inventories, which was also in part driven by higher imports.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures (WTI) were trading at $65.65 a barrel, up 21 cents by 10:54 a.m. EDT (1454 GMT), while global benchmark Brent crude futures were up 30 cents at $67.4 a barrel.
“Imports were up huge and exports were down huge. That’s a bearish dynamic in both directions,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.
Net U.S. crude imports rose by a record 2.9 million barrels per day, to 4.6 million bpd, the highest since June 2024, the EIA said. Imports from Nigeria were at their highest level since August 2019.
U.S. crude exports, meanwhile, fell by 2.0 million bpd to 2.31 million bpd last week, the lowest level since July 2023. The spread between Brent and WTI has narrowed in recent weeks, discouraging exports from U.S. ports.
Refinery crude runs rose by 118,000 bpd in the week, while refinery utilization rates rose by 0.2 percentage point to 94.9% of total capacity.
Gasoline stocks rose by 4.2 million barrels in the week to 232.1 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with expectations for a 236,000-barrel draw.
Product supplied of gasoline, a proxy for demand, fell by 1.1 million bpd to 8.6 million bpd.
“During summertime, 9 million barrels per day is basically the line in the sand to define a healthy market, we’re now well below that. That’s not a good sign,” said Yawger.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week to 103.6 million barrels, versus forecasts for a 1 million-barrel drop, the data showed.
Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver Editing by Marguerita Choy
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