U.S. crude oil inventories fell for a ninth consecutive week, dropping by 6.1 million barrels to 412.1 million barrels in the week ended June 19, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. The decline was significantly larger than the 4.1 million barrel draw that analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected, and left commercial crude stocks about 7% below the five-year average for the time of year.
The Department of Energy released an additional 9.1 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during the week, continuing a drawdown that has accelerated this year as the administration has sought to shore up domestic oil supplies. Oil held in the SPR stood at 331.2 million barrels, the EIA said. Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures contract, fell by 1.1 million barrels to 19 million barrels.
Gasoline inventories rose for the third time in four weeks, increasing by 2.1 million barrels to 216.3 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations of a 1.3 million barrel draw. Gasoline stocks remained 5% below the five-year average. Demand for gasoline fell by 437,000 barrels a day to 8.8 million barrels a day, the EIA said.
Distillate fuel stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, increased by 3.1 million barrels to 106.1 million barrels, compared with expectations of a 1.1 million barrel withdrawal. Distillate stocks were 10% below the five-year average for the time of year, according to the EIA.
U.S. crude oil production edged up by 13,000 barrels a day to 13.8 million barrels a day, the EIA estimated. Crude oil imports rose by 436,000 barrels a day to 5.6 million barrels a day, while crude exports increased by 342,000 barrels a day to 4.7 million barrels a day.
Refineries operated at 96.1% of capacity during the week, down from 96.7% the previous week. Crude input to refineries fell by 81,000 barrels a day to 17.1 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were unchanged in the Wall Street Journal survey, the paper reported.