Gasoline, distillate inventories shrink as refinery runs ease
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories rose by three million barrels to 411.4 million barrels in the week ended July 3, according to the Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report released Wednesday. The increase was the first in 11 weeks and came as analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a decline of 1.4 million barrels.
The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production at just under 13.9 million barrels a day, up 50,000 barrels a day from the previous week. Crude oil imports rose by 351,000 barrels a day to 5.6 million barrels a day, while exports fell by 746,000 barrels a day to 3.3 million barrels a day, the agency said.
Commercial crude stocks remained about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said. Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for the New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil futures contract, slipped by 52,000 barrels to 19.6 million barrels.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve continued to be drawn down as part of ongoing emergency releases. Oil stored in the reserve fell by 6.2 million barrels to 319.5 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Refineries operated at 95.8% of capacity, down from 96.6% the prior week, with crude input falling by 173,000 barrels a day to 17 million barrels a day, the EIA said.
Gasoline inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels to 212.1 million barrels and were about 6% below the five-year average. Gasoline demand decreased by 286,000 barrels a day to 8.8 million barrels a day, the agency reported. Analysts had expected a 1.3 million barrel decline in gasoline stocks.
Distillate fuel inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 5 million barrels to 103.6 million barrels, defying analyst expectations of a 900,000 barrel increase. Distillate stocks were roughly 12% below the five-year average, the EIA said.