US oil, gasoline inventories hit new record highs as refiners boost output
2/18/2016 12:00:00 AM
NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) -- US crude oil and gasoline inventories rose last week to new record highs as imports of crude grew and refineries increased output, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Thursday.
Crude oil inventories rose 2.1 million bbl in the week to Feb. 12, lower than analysts' expectations for a 3.9 million-bbl build, to a peak of 504.1 million bbl in the third week of hitting record highs in past month.
US crude imports rose last week by 795,000 bpd.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose 36,000 bbl, the EIA said, setting a new record high of 64.7 million bbl, for the third straight week.
US crude futures pared gains after the data, which was in stark contrast for more bullish numbers from industry group the American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday that reported a 3.3 million-bbl drop in crude inventories.
"The negative aspect is overall crude builds, which counter industry figures from yesterday that showed a drop, in the midst of refinery utilization rising," said Tony Headrick, Energy market analyst at CHS Hedging LLC.
US prices were up 1.1% at $30.99/bbl at 12:33 p.m. EDT (1733 GMT), off an earlier intraday high of $31.98 ahead of the data.
Refinery crude runs rose 338,000 bpd, EIA data showed as refinery utilization rates rose by 2.2 percentage points to 88.3% of capacity.
Gasoline stocks rose 3 million bbl, far more than forecasts for a 500,000-bbl gain, to a record high of 258.7 million bbl.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 1.4 million bbl, versus expectations for a 1.5 million-bbl drop, the EIA data showed. On the Gulf Coast, stockpiles were at their highest seasonal levels since 2011.
(Reporting By Josephine Mason; additional reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar and Barani Krishnan; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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