US crude oil inventories rise as refining activity dips, EIA says
Adds analysts' expectations for stock moves in paragraphs 2,9,12
By Georgina McCartney and Laila Kearney
HOUSTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) -U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week as refinery utilization rates fell amid weakening fuel demand, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 3.9 million barrels to 417 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 27, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI rose by 840,000 barrels.
"As we descend into seasonal refinery maintenance, a chunky drop in refining activity has ushered in a build to crude inventories,” said Matt Smith, analyst at ship tracking firm Kpler.
Global Brent LCoc1 and U.S. crude futures CLc1 pared gains following the report to up a little over 2%. They had been up by 3% earlier in the day. O/R
Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI fell by 662,000 barrels per day, while refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI fell by 3.3 percentage points in the week to 87.6%, the EIA said. Many refiners begin seasonal maintenance after the summer driving season ends.
"It's a big pullback in the refinery utilization rate. Right there is the vast majority of your build," said Bob Yawger, director of oil futures at Mizuho in New York.
"Those barrels get stuffed into storage," he added.
Meanwhile, U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 1.1 million barrels in the week to 221 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations for a 67,000-barrel draw.
Gasoline product supplied, a proxy for demand, fell on the week to 8.5 million bpd, down from 9.2 million bpd. Meanwhile distillates supplied fell 3.6 million bpd, from 4 million bpd last week.
“The bottom just fell out of summer gasoline demand, and there was a decent sized drop in distillate fuel demand too,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital
Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.3 million barrels in the week to 122 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for a 1.54 million-barrel draw.
Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI rose last week by 191,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by Jan Harvey and Chizu Nomiyama
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
