U.S. crude, fuel stockpiles rise as production returns
U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week as the production rebounded from recent storms, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.
Crude inventories rose by 4.6 MMb in the week to Sept. 24 to 418.5 MMb, EIA data showed, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.7 MMb drop.
The rebound came as U.S. crude output jumped by 500,000 bpd to 11.1 MMbpd, a level consistent with activity before Hurricane Ida slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast about a month ago. Analysts consider weekly production data less reliable than monthly figures, which are released on a lagging basis.
Refinery crude runs rose by 68,000 bpd in the last week. Refinery utilization rates rose by 0.6 percentage point to 88.1% of total capacity on the week.
U.S. gasoline stocks posted a modest gain of 193,000 barrels to 221.8 MMb, compared with expectations for a 1.4 MMb rise. Gasoline product supplied was 9.2 million bpd over the last four weeks, or about 1% below pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019.
"The gasoline supplied number is pretty nice," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Group in New York> "That number has been really struggling lately."
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 385,000 barrels in the week to 129.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 MMb drop.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. futures rose by 131,000 barrels in the last week, the EIA said.
U.S. oil prices briefly dipped on the news before rebounding to trade around even on the day, down 3 cents to $75.26 a barrel as of 10:39 a.m. ET (1439 GMT). Brent lost 14 cents to $78.95 a barrel, also recovering some losses.
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