Analyst survey had predicted a 100,000-barrel weekly build
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell by 8.6 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 9, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday. The draw left stockpiles about 3% below the five-year average for the time of year and contrasted with a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts, which had expected crude stocks to increase by 100,000 barrels.
Hurricane Isaias was the proximate cause. The agency estimated U.S. crude oil production fell by 300,000 barrels a day to 13.7 million barrels a day as Gulf of Mexico operators evacuated platforms last week. More than 70% of offshore oil output had been shut in by Friday, the EIA said; most of that production had been restored by Wednesday of this week.
Crude imports fell by 791,000 barrels a day to 6 million barrels a day, and exports declined by 195,000 barrels a day to 4.6 million barrels a day, the EIA data showed.
Refinery capacity use rose to 93.5% from 92.7% the previous week, with crude inputs to refineries up by 135,000 barrels a day at 16.6 million barrels a day. The same Journal survey had forecast refinery runs to fall by half a percentage point.
Gasoline inventories rose by 3.5 million barrels to 208.3 million barrels, ending the week 4% below the five-year average, the EIA said. That build ran counter to expectations of a 900,000-barrel draw. Gasoline demand was down by 362,000 barrels a day at 8.4 million barrels a day.
Distillate fuel stocks fell by 2.5 million barrels to 102.6 million barrels, against expectations of a 1.5 million-barrel draw. Distillate inventories were 12% below the five-year average, and distillate demand rose by 673,000 barrels a day to 4.3 million barrels a day.
Oil stored in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was unchanged at 283 million barrels. Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the Nymex delivery hub, rose by 1.9 million barrels to 26.6 million barrels.