US Crude Stocks Rise More Than Expected -EIA

U.S. crude stocks rose last week as refinery runs and imports fell, while gasoline and distillate inventories increased, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Thursday.

 

Crude inventories rose by 2.6 million barrels to 458 million barrels in the last week, compared with analysts' expectations for an increase of 933,000 barrels.

 

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 897,000 barrels to 56.41 million barrels, EIA said.

 

The rise in crude inventories occurred even though U.S. crude imports fell last week by 396,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 6.98 million barrels.

 

U.S. and Brent crude initially pared gains after the report, but both contracts were being lifted on Thursday by a jump in U.S. equities markets and by news that a congressional subcommittee had passed a bill to repeal the U.S. ban on oil exports.

 

"The inventory numbers were a little more bearish than the street was looking for, with builds across the board in crude, gasoline and heating oil," said Tariq Zahir, manager at Tyche Capital Advisors in Laurel Hollow, New York.

 

U.S. crude was up $1.09 at $45.24 a barrel at 11:33 a.m. EDT (1533 GMT), having traded in a range of $43.36 to $45.53.

 

Brent crude was up 60 cents at $48.18 a barrel, having traded in a range of $46.76 to $48.59.

 

Refinery crude runs fell by 279,000 bpd last week, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates fell by 1.9 percentage points to 90.9 percent of capacity.

 

"Refinery utilization is now below 91 percent, with more reductions on tap," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

 

"That will cause a reduction in crude oil demand in the weeks ahead," Kilduff noted.

 

Gasoline stocks rose by 384,000 barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a drop of 567,000 barrels.

 

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 1 million barrels, versus expectations for an increase of 858,000 barrels, the EIA data showed.