(Reuters) – U.S. crude stocks rose as refineries eased processing slightly and imports edged higher, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 2.5 million barrels to 407 million barrels in the week ended July 31, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million-barrel draw.
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Total crude stocks, including commercial and barrels held in the U.S. government’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves, eased to 711.8 million barrels, the lowest since March 1984.
Oil inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 2.4 million barrels to 20.96 million barrels in the week, the EIA said, back above the minimum operational requirement of about 20 million barrels.
Refinery crude runs fell by 183,000 barrels per day, the EIA said, while refinery utilization rates fell by 0.7 percentage points in the week to 96.5%. Meanwhile, imports climbed by about 515,000 barrels to 6.2 million bpd. Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 297,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.
INVENTORIES GROW MODESTLY
“Strong imports combined with an ongoing slower pace of exports to yield a modest build to crude inventories, also aided by a tick lower in refining activity,” said Matt Smith, an analyst with ship tracking firm Kpler.
U.S. crude futures and globally traded Brent crude futures extended losses after the EIA report.
West Texas Intermediate crude was down 0.7%, or 56 cents at $75.20, while Brent futures were down 0.4%, or 32 cents, at $79.02.
“Cushing inventories have bounced like a rubber ball after reaching a 12-year low, while both gasoline and distillate inventories saw draws as refining activity eased and implied demand held up. Distillates saw a bigger draw as implied demand kicked higher week-on-week,” Smith said.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 1.6 million barrels in the week to 209.7 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.5 million barrels in the week to 107.2 million barrels, versus expectations for a 206,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
Product supplied of gasoline, a proxy for demand, eased 10,000 bpd, but held at over 9 million bpd, which analysts consider to be a strong level, reflecting summer demand when the driving season boosts consumption. Demand for distillates rose 417,000 bpd to 3.9 million bpd.
Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; editing by Barbara Lewis
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