US crude and fuel stocks rise as refining runs, exports dip, EIA says
XLE•U.S. crude stocks rise as refinery runs ease and exports drop
U.S. crude stocks rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, as refinery runs eased and crude exports dropped while imports rose.
Crude inventories rose by 2 million barrels to 411.7 million barrels in the week ended July 17, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel draw.
Total U.S. crude stocks, including stocks in commercial storage and in the government's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, has fallen by 131.6 million barrels to 723.1 million barrels last week, the lowest since 1984.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI fell by 674,000 barrels last week to 19.4 million barrels, the EIA said, dipping below the minimum operational levels estimated at about 20 million barrels.
"Today’s modest build in oil and gasoline inventories gives some relief from worst-case scenarios, but the SPR continues to fall. While the market isn’t on the verge of an immediate energy crunch, the current trajectory is precarious," said David Russell, Global Head of Market Strategy at TradeStation.
