US crude inventories rise, fuel stocks fall as refining slips, EIA says
XLE•Distillate and gasoline inventories fall
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 428,000 barrels in the week to 107.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 633,000-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
US diesel stocks fell by 604,000 barrels last week to 96.36 million barrels and are now roughly 14% under the seasonal average for the previous five years, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. Diesel prices have touched record levels and were averaging $6.5217 a gallon on Wednesday, up from $3.6933 a gallon a year ago.
US gasoline stocks fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week to 206 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 95,000-barrel build.
Net US crude imports rose last week by 369,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.
Oil futures, refining runs and utilization
Oil futures were pared some gains following the report. Global Brent crude futures were trading at $101.33 a barrel, up $2.08, at 11:02 a.m. ET (1502 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate futures were up 96 cents to $91.48 a barrel.
"A material drop in refining activity encouraged draws to both gasoline and distillates, shining a light on current concerns swirling around refined products: crude inputs need to run at 17 Mbd to stave off product inventory draws," said Matt Smith, an analyst at ship tracking firm Kpler.
Refinery crude runs fell by 519,000 barrels per day in the week, the EIA said, while utilization rates fell by 2.8 percentage points in the week to 94%, due largely to an outage at Exxon Mobil's 275,000 bpd Joliet, Illinois refinery.
Refinery utilization in the Midwest region fell to 86% from 100% the prior week.
