EIA: U.S. crude and fuel stockpiles fall last week as exports rise
U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday as crude exports rose.
Crude inventories fell by 2.5 MMbbl in the week ending June 14 to 457.1 MMbbl, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.2-MMbbl draw.
Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures rose by 307,000 bbl, the EIA said.
Oil prices extended gains slightly after the report showed a fall in overall stocks. Refinery crude runs fell by 282,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the week, and refinery utilization rates fell by 1.5% to 93.5% of total capacity.
Crude exports rose by 1.2 MMbpd to 4.4 MMbpd, while net imports declined by 2.5 MMbpd to 2.6 MMbpd.
"A decent jump higher in crude exports was enough to overpower a dip in refining activity last week to encourage a draw to crude inventories - for the first week in three,” said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler.
"A dip in refining and an increase in implied demand meant both gasoline and distillate inventories drew - rounding out a fairly supportive report for prices," he added.
U.S. crude imports of Canadian crude reached a six-month high last week, at 4.137 MMbbl, the EIA said.
Gasoline inventories fell by 2.3 MMbbl to 231.2 MMbbl, the EIA said, compared with forecasts for a 600,000-bbl build.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.7 MMbbl to 121.6 MMbbl, vs. expectations for a 300,000-bbl rise, the EIA data showed.
Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, rose by 1.9 MMbpd on the week to 21.1 MMbpd, compared with the four-week average of 20 MMbpd, roughly in line with year-ago levels.
Product supplied for gasoline rose by 346,000 bpd to 9.4 MMbpd, while distillate fuel oil rose by 328,000 bpd to nearly 4 MMbpd.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston, Laila Kearney in New York,Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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